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Indiana Professor Pleads Guilty After Scheming Millions from the National Science Foundation


Indiana engineering professor Dr. Qingyou Han plead guilty to charges of mail and wire fraud this month after a Grand Jury indicted him based on allegations that he and his wife, Lu Shao, engaged in a long-term scheme to defraud the government by applying for and using Federal grant money from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for personal expenses.

Beginning in 2006, Han submitted proposals for and received small business grants from the NSF for research to be carried out by a company called Hans Tech, using his wife’s name and signature to do so. The couple never disclosed that Han had a role with the company or the fact that the two were married. Over seven years, Hans Tech received over $1.3 million in research grants, much of which was spent on personal expenses for Han, Shao, and their two children, including the purchase of a home in Indiana and charging the company rent for use of the home. On more than one occasion, the couple’s minor children were paid as employees of Hans Tech in documentation submitted to the NSF. Shao also created fake ledgers for Hans Tech that were submitted to the government agency and directed an employee to submit false time reports.

Mail and wire fraud charges carry significant criminal penalties for the use of the mails or interstate wire communications – telephone calls, faxes, internet communications, or even television transmissions – to further a scheme to defraud someone of money or property. This case joins the line of federal prosecutions of researchers taking advantage of their positions to defraud the government of research grant funds for personal use.