OKLAHOMA CITY – A couple employed at the University of Oklahoma has been charged with defrauding the U.S. government by spending funds from $2.1 million in Department of Energy grants on overseas travel and myriad personal expenses, such as paying off credit card debt and buying a new vehicle.
Shaorong Liu and his wife, Juan Lu, Norman residents for at least 12 years, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The couple appeared before a U.S. magistrate on May 29. Both were ordered to surrender their passports and their travel is restricted to the Western District of Oklahoma unless pre-approved by the U.S. Probation Office.
An affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint relates that Liu and Lu are employed at OU in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He has been a faculty member since 2008; she is listed as an affiliate research scientist and previously was a scientist/researcher, according to the FBI.
The couple also controlled a company, MicroChem Solutions (MCS), which they co-founded in 2001, according to an FBI special agent. Through MCS, Liu and Lu applied for and received federal grants from the DOE totaling $2.1 million. On their grant applications, Liu was listed as the principal investigator and Lu was listed as the chief operation officer.
The mission of the grant program was to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy.
Instead, the affidavit alleges the couple “intentionally spent a significant portion of the DOE funds for unallowable personal expenses and personal investments.”
For example, $213,000 allegedly was used to pay off credit card bills and $37,448 purchased a new vehicle. Also, DOE funds were used to pay for unapproved travel to “multiple international destinations, such as Australia, China, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, Turkey and Malaysia,” the FBI agent wrote in his affidavit.
If found guilty, Liu and Lu each could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
According to U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing, the case was investigated by the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General, the National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Oklahoma City Field Office.