All Charges Dropped Against MIT Professor Accused of Hiding Ties to China

Remember that MIT professor accused of hiding the work he did for the Chinese government? (He was arrested for not disclosing it on federal grant applications, with a U.S. attorney announcing 'It is not illegal to collaborate with foreign researchers. It is illegal to lie about it.')

All charges have been dropped. Mass Live reports:
Chen, 56, was arrested a year ago for failing to disclose millions of dollars in contracts, appointments and awards from the Chinese government when he applied for a grant from the Department of Energy. Among other charges, he was accused of wire fraud and making a false statement on a tax return, according to prosecutors. He pleaded not guilty to the full slate of charges.

On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said the federal government would drop its case against Chen. After assessing new evidence, Rollins said in a statement her office found it could not meet the burden of proof in a trial. 'As prosecutors, we have an obligation in every matter we pursue to continually examine the facts while being open to receiving and uncovering new information,' Rollins said. 'Today's dismissal is a result of that process and is in the interests of justice....'

Prosecutors had claimed Chen used the U.S. government's money to benefit the Chinese government, while failing to disclose any relationship with Chinese leaders. Colleagues protested Chen's arrest, saying grant disclosure violations had been treated as a serious crime, such as espionage or intellectual property theft, the New York Times reported. Recently, Department of Energy officials said they would awarded a grant to him even if he had disclosed his ties to China.

MIT Technology Review adds:
From the start, Chen had maintained his innocence, while MIT had indicated that he was working to establish a research collaboration on behalf of the institution and that the funding in question was actually for the university rather than Chen personally. MIT also paid for his defense....

'The government finally acknowledged what we said all along: Professor Gang Chen is an innocent man,' Robert Fisher, Chen's defense attorney, said in a statement. 'Our defense was never based on any legal technicalities. Gang did not commit any of the offenses he was charged with. Full stop. He was never in a talent program. He was never an overseas scientist for Beijing. He disclosed everything that he was supposed to disclose and never lied to the government or anyone else.'

For his part, Chen said, 'While I am relieved that my ordeal is over, I am mindful that this terribly misguided China Initiative continues to bring unwarranted fear to the academic community, and other scientists still face charges.'

'I will have more to share soon,' the scientist added.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.