A Chinese medical student who studied at a US research lab is being held without bail after federal prosecutors accused the visa holder of attempting to smuggle cancer research material back to China.
In a Monday ruling, Magistrate Judge David Hennessy of the US District Court in Boston, Massachusetts, ruled that evidence produced by federal prosecutors suggested it was likely 29-year-old Zaosong Zheng attempted to smuggle vital cancer research from the US to China and should be held behind bars, without bond.
Not long after, the Chinese national reportedly admitted to stealing the vials and told federal investigators that he planned on transporting them from Boston to Beijing.
“Zheng stated that upon his return to China, he was planning to immediately go to his lab in China and begin working on his research using the stolen vials,” an FBI affidavit read, reported Boston outlet Universal Hub. “Zheng explained that if the results of his research were successful in any way that he planned to publish a paper in his name.”
“These facts … also strongly suggests that Zheng’s theft and attempt to smuggle biological specimens out of the US was not an isolated incident,” Assistant US Attorney Benjamin Tolkoff said in the motion, as quoted by the Boston Herald. “Rather, it appears to have been a coordinated crime, with likely involvement by the Chinese government.”
The leveling of smuggling-related charges against Zheng comes just a month after the US Department of Justice indicted Chinese national and former Monsanto employee Haitao Xiang on three counts of trade secret theft, three counts of economic espionage, one count of conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets and one count of conspiracy to commit economic espionage.
Though Xiang was the individual charged in the motion and accused of stealing Monsanto’s “proprietary predictive algorithm,” the DoJ also slammed Beijing in a follow-up press release.
Beth Israel, the hospital which employed Zheng, recently announced to the Associated Press that it had fired the Chinese national.
“We are deeply proud of the breadth and depth of our research programs,” spokeswoman Jennifer Krtiz said. “Any efforts to compromise research undermine the hard work of our faculty and staff to advance patient care.”
Federal prosecutors noted that more charges could be brought against Zheng, as the investigation remains ongoing.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
