NASA researcher did not disclose ties to China, DOJ says

The FBI arrested an Arkansas professor who failed to disclose ties to the Chinese government and Chinese companies before securing funding for a NASA research project, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Simon Saw-Teong Ang, 63, was arrested Friday and charged with wire fraud. 

The Justice Department alleges that the electrical engineering professor and researcher at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville (UA) has committed fraud against NASA and the university since 1988 “by failing to disclose that he held other positions at a Chinese university and Chinese companies.”

Ang faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

His ties came to light after a university employee tried to find the owner of a hard drive that was placed in lost-and-found at a campus library, according to court documents obtained by CNN.

The employee found an email exchange between Ang and a visiting researcher from Xidian University in Xi’an, China. In the September 2018 email discussion, Ang said that the current political climate was making his situation at the university difficult. 

“You can search the Chinese website regarding what the US will do to Thousand Talent Scholars,” Ang wrote, according to the complaint, referring to China’s Thousand Talents program for individuals who work or study outside of China in high-priority research fields. 

“Not many people here know I am one of them but if this leaks out, my job here will be in deep troubles [sic],’ Ang added in the email.

John Thomas, a spokesman for UA, told CNN, “Simon Ang has been suspended without pay from his responsibilities with the university and the university is actively cooperating with the federal investigation in this matter.”