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发帖数: 824 | 1 第一句好是点睛之笔。
It was, the chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan said on Monday, “a case
of inviting and paying for foxes in the henhouse.”
Three researchers at the New York University School of Medicine who
specialized in magnetic resonance imaging technology had been working on
research sponsored by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
But, prosecutors charged on Monday, the three had their eyes on other
business as well. They conspired to take bribes from a Chinese medical
imaging company and a Chinese-sponsored research institute to share
nonpublic information about their N.Y.U. work, according to the United
States attorney’s office in Manhattan.
The defendants, all Chinese citizens, included Yudong Zhu, 44, of Scarsdale,
N.Y., an associate professor in the school’s radiology department who was
described by the authorities as “an accomplished researcher and innovator.
” He was hired by the university around 2008 to teach and conduct research
related to innovations in M.R.I. technology, the authorities said.
After the National Institutes of Health awarded the university millions of
dollars over five years to pay for Professor Zhu’s research, he arranged
for the two other defendants to move to New York from China to work with him
, prosecutors said. He also arranged for them to receive financial support
from an executive of the Chinese imaging company who was also affiliated
with the government-sponsored institute, officials said.
The two other defendants are Xing Yang, 31, and Ye Li, also 31, both of
Hartsdale, N.Y. They were each described by N.Y.U. as research engineers at
the medical school.
The support they received included graduate school tuition for Mr. Yang, a
rental apartment for Mr. Li and, for both, travel between China and New York
, prosecutors said.
Preet Bharara, the United States attorney, who announced the charges with
George Venizelos, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New
York office, said the defendants had “colluded with representatives from a
Chinese government entity and a direct competitor of the university for
which they worked to illegally acquire N.I.H.-funded research for the
benefit of those entities.”
N.Y.U. said in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed by the news of
the alleged conduct by its employees.”
“Through our internal review processes,” it said, “we became aware of
possible irregularities pursuant to research being conducted through a grant
from the N.I.H. to develop new M.R.I. technologies.” The university said
that it had alerted the authorities and continued to cooperate fully with
the investigation.
Dr. Zhu and Mr. Yang were both arrested on Sunday and ordered released on
bond by a magistrate judge on Monday. All three defendants were charged with
one count of commercial bribery conspiracy; Dr. Zhu was also charged with
one count of falsification of records. A prosecutor said in court that Dr.
Zhu had admitted to the F.B.I. that he had received almost $500,000 in the
scheme.
Dr. Zhu’s lawyer, Robert M. Baum, said in court that N.Y.U. had recruited
his client because he was “one of the world’s renowned experts in M.R.I.
technology.”
Mr. Li was believed to have flown to China before charges were brought, Mr.
Bharara’s office said. |
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