Lin Yang, Scheme to Defraud National Institutes of Health, Florida 2020

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – A former University of Florida professor and researcher has been indicted for fraudulently obtaining $1.75 million in federal grant money from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by concealing support he received from the Chinese government and a company that he founded in China to profit from that research.

Lin Yang, 43, who resided in Tampa, Florida, at the time of the offenses, is charged with six counts of wire fraud and four counts of making false statements to an agency of the United States. The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on Dec. 15, 2020, was unsealed today.

“Transparency about foreign funding sources allows federal agencies to allocate finite resources fairly. Transparency about foreign government affiliations, like business affiliations, allows the research community and the American people to assess any impact on the integrity of the research,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the National Security Division.

“The taxpayer dollars that funded Yang’s research were intended to benefit the health and well-being of U.S. citizens. But our indictment alleges that Yang engaged in acts of deliberate deception so that he could also further the research goals of the Chinese Communist government and advance his own business interests,” said U.S. Attorney Lawrence Keefe for the Northern District of Florida.

“American taxpayers ought to know whether their money is being used to fund research and development for the benefit of foreign governments and foreign companies,” said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.

Lin Yang, a former University of Florida researcher, obtained a $1.75 million grant from NIH to develop and disseminate an imaging informatics technology. However, according to the indictment, Yang concealed his ties to the Chinese government and a company he founded in China, which he used to profit from the research.

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) investigated the case.

Lin Yang’s case highlights the importance of transparency in research funding and the need to protect the integrity of the research enterprise. The indictment alleges that Yang’s actions undermined the trust between researchers, institutions, and the public.

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