Harvard professor charged for failing to report income received from Wuhan
by: Ronnie Das
Posted: Jul 29, 2020 / 05:34 AM CDT / Updated: Jul 29, 2020 / 05:35 AM CDT
BOSTON (WLNS) – The former Chair of Harvard University's Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department was charged today in a superseding indictment with tax offenses for failing to report income he received from the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in Wuhan, China.
Under a three-year contract, WUT reportedly paid Dr. Charles Lieber a salary of up to $50,000 per month, living expenses of up to $150,000 and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT.
Lieber was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of making and subscribing a false income tax return and two counts of failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts with the Internal Revenue Service.
In June 2020, Lieber was indicted on two counts of making false statements to federal authorities. Lieber lied to federal authorities about his involvement in China's Thousand Talents Plan and his affiliation with WUT, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
The superseding indictment also alleges that Lieber, together with WUT officials, opened a bank account at a Chinese bank during a trip to Wuhan in 2012.
U.S. taxpayers are required to report the existence of any foreign bank account that holds more than $10,000 at any time during a given year.
Making false statements carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
The charge of making and subscribing false income tax returns could result in a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $100,000 fine.
Failing to file a Foreign Bank Account Report holds a penalty of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
The 61-year-old was arrested on Jan. 28, 2020.
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