Prominent MIT Chinese Professor Charged with Failure to Disclose China Cooperation and False Tax Returns

Chen Gang, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was arrested Jan. 14 and charged with failing to disclose contracts, appointments and awards from various Chinese entities to the U.S. Department of Energy; he was also criminally charged with wire fraud, failure to file foreign bank account reports, and making false statements on tax returns, federal prosecutors said today. Chen Gang is scheduled to make an initial appearance remotely this afternoon.

Gang Chen is a member of the U.S. Academy of Engineering and was the first Chinese chair of MIT’s Mechanical Engineering Department. According to prosecution data, Chen is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China and currently serves as the director of MIT’s Pappalardo Micro/Nano Engineering Laboratory and the director of the Center for Solid State Solar Thermal Energy Conversion.

Since about 2013, Chen Gang’s research at MIT has received more than $19 million in grants awarded by various U.S. federal agencies, according to prosecution data. From at least 2017 through 2019, Chen Gang is suspected of serving in several advisory roles with China and Chinese entities in his application for and receipt of U.S. Department of Energy funding for his MIT portion of the research, which was not disclosed as required. Chen Gang is also suspected of failing to disclose that he maintained a bank account in China in excess of $10,000 on his 2018 tax return.

According to the prosecution, the wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years’ release from prison and a fine of up to $250,000; the false statement charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years’ release from prison and a fine of $250,000. The failure to submit foreign accounts charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years’ release from prison and a fine of $250,000.

According to the Boston Globe, federal prosecutor Andrew E. Lelling said in a news release that this is not the first case his office has brought against prominent researchers for concealing their China ties. He said, “It’s not illegal to work with a foreign researcher. It’s illegal to lie. We are not looking for Chinese nationals or ethnic Chinese exclusively to prosecute. We look for behavior, not race.