Ex-Harvard professor sentenced to 6 months house arrest for lying about China ties

A former Harvard University professor was sentenced on Wednesday to six months’ house arrest for lying about his ties to a China-run recruitment program, prosecutors said, in one of the highest-profile cases resulting from a crackdown on Chinese influence on US research.

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Charles Lieber, a renowned nanoscientist and the former chairman of Harvard’s chemistry department, was sentenced by US District Judge Rya Zobel in Boston following his conviction in December 2021.

Lieber was sentenced to two days in prison – time that he had already served following his arrest – and half a year of house arrest with a fine of $50,000, prosecutors said.

He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and a restitution to the Internal Revenue Service of $33,600, according to prosecutors.

Lieber, who has been battling cancer, denies wrongdoing.

A federal jury had found him guilty of making false statements to authorities, filing false tax returns, and failing to report a Chinese bank account in a case spilling out of the US Department of Justice’s “China Initiative.”

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