Harvard Professor Faces Tax Charges for Allegedly Lying About His Ties to Chinese School

A Harvard University professor already facing federal charges for allegedly lying about his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program now faces additional charges of failing to report income from a Chinese university to the IRS, federal prosecutors said.

Chemistry professor Charles Lieber, 61, was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts and two counts of making and subscribing a false income tax return, the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a statement Tuesday. Lieber is accused of failing to report income from Wuhan University of Technology.

Lieber was previously indicted on two counts of lying to federal authorities and pleaded not guilty. His attorney disputed the allegations. “The notion that Professor Lieber was engaged in improper work with China is laughable,” Marc Mukasey said in an email to The Boston Globe.

“He didn’t hide anything, and he didn’t get paid as the government alleges. … He is innocent and his name will be cleared.”

A Harvard spokesman declined to comment. The Ivy League school put Lieber on administrative leave in January when he was first arrested.

He was charged then with hiding his involvement in China’s Thousand Talents Plan, a program designed to lure people with knowledge of foreign technology and intellectual property to China.