Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Misconduct

New charges filed against University of Kansas chemist Feng “Franklin” Tao

by Jyllian Kemsley
January 24, 2020 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 98, Issue 4

 

US prosecutors filed a new indictment Jan. 15 against University of Kansas chemist Feng “Franklin” Tao. Tao was previously charged with one count of wire fraud and three counts of program fraud for allegedly receiving US federal grant money while also employed by Fuzhou University in China as a Changjiang Distinguished Professor. The recent indictment supersedes the previous one. Tao is now charged with two counts of wire fraud for submitting false conflict of interest forms electronically for the University of Kansas. He is also charged with one count of program fraud because he “embezzled, stole, and obtained by fraud, property worth at least $5,000,” the indictment alleges. A motion to dismiss the original indictment filed by Tao’s attorneys on Nov. 17 claims that a “disgruntled, unpaid visiting scholar at KU” tried to extort $300,000 from Tao, then hacked into his email and “fabricated complaints” to KU and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Tao is on administrative leave from his position as a professor of chemical engineering, KU spokesperson Andy Hyland says.

Bibiana Campos Seijo(February 18, 2020 5:12 PM)
A comment on this story has been deleted because it did not comply with our commenting policy and did not align with ACS's core value of diversity, inclusion, and respect:
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/membership-and-networks/acs/welcoming/diversity.html

We have turned off commenting on this story. We welcome letters to the editor:
https://cen.acs.org/static/about/contactus.html

Bibiana Campos Seijo
Editor in Chief, C&EN, and VP of C&EN Media Group

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.