Prosecutors file motion to dismiss charges against MIT professor

Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors Thursday filed a motion to dismiss grant fraud charges against MIT Professor Gang Chen.

According to the New York Times, the government filed the dismissal motion because investigators discovered new information and "can no longer meet its burden at trial".

U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris is expected to rule on the motion to dismiss charges against Chen soon.

Professor Chen was arrested Jan. 14, 2021. He was charged with hiding his alleged affiliations with Chinese government institutions in U.S. Department of Energy grant applications for about $2.7 million.

Professor Chen denied the charges, pleading not guilty.

In a press statement Chen's attorney Rob Fisher said, "Today is a great day. The government finally acknowledged what we have said all along: Professor Gang Chen is an innocent man."

Fisher said Chen was never an overseas scientist for Beijing and never lied to the U.S. government.

According to the Washington Post, Chen was among 20 academics and researchers prosecuted during the last three years as part of the China Initiative, an effort to act against economic espionage.

Significant convictions resulted from that Justice Department effort.

They include a Chinese national in Missouri who conspired to steal Monsanto crop-boosting technology to benefit the Chinese government.

In December, a Harvard University Professor was found guilty of lying about receiving payments from a Chinese University and falsifying tax returns.