Two University of Oklahoma researchers are accused of misspending a $2.1 million U.S. Department of Energy grant and face criminal federal charges.
Shaorong Liu and Juan Lu, who are married to one another appeared in Oklahoma City Federal court on Friday and if convicted could fax a maximum of 20 years in prison.
They were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and accused of using some of the grant money to buy a $37,448 vehicle and spend more than $213,000 on credit card bills.
A report in the Oklahoman newspaper indicated that Liu is a faculty member at the University and Lu is an affiliate research scientist for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
The federal charges say the couple controlled a company called MicroChem Solutions and applied and won the grant. The money 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.
Source: Oklahoman
