May 14, 2020 / VANESSA ROMO
A former Cleveland Clinic Foundation doctor was arrested Wednesday and appeared in court on Thursday on charges of wire fraud and making false claims to obtain millions in federal grant funding.
It is the latest move in a federal crackdown on alleged participants in China’s Thousand Talents Plan. The government believes the program may recruit U.S.-based scientists and researchers to steal intellectual property and scientific advances paid for with American funding.
The FBI claims Qing Wang, a U.S. citizen born in China, lied to receive more than $3.6 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health while also collecting money for the same research from the Chinese government.
“This is not a case of simple omission,” FBI Cleveland Special Agent in Charge Eric Smith said in a statement.
