The file
Harvard chair. A Wuhan contract. A jury in Boston — six counts: false statements, false returns, FBAR. Time served and home detention. Then a Tsinghua title in Shenzhen. This is Charles M. Lieber, the chemist, not Charles S. Lieber the late physician. This is not a biography. It is the episodes. Facts are cited. Opinion is marked. Participation in Thousand Talents was not itself the crime. The verdict is not espionage.
Compiled as a critical briefing, in the voice of a packet. Identity: About. Not a court. Not a White House product. No invented quotes, titles, or extra crimes.
Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building. Voice of America. U.S. government work.
Verdict · finding
DOJ: two § 1001, two § 7206(1), two FBAR. Six-day trial. Judge Rya W. Zobel. Not an espionage verdict. Not dumped again as the lead-only story in the grid below.
Harvard
Chair of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, 2015–2020. Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor, 2017. Tsinghua SIGS English bio.
WUT / TTP
DOJ papers: Strategic Scientist at Wuhan University of Technology; July 2012 TTP contract. Affiliation was not itself the crime.
J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building. Ajay Suresh. CC BY 2.0.
Arrest
DOJ: Chair of Harvard CCB arrested that morning; one-count 18 U.S.C. § 1001 complaint. Not an espionage count.
Indictment
Indictment PDF: two counts of false statements, 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). DoD interview and NIH/Harvard statement.
Tax / FBAR
DOJ conviction PR: superseding indictment in July 2020 added false-return and FBAR counts. Still not an espionage charge.
Lawsuit
Daily Caller, citing AP: Lieber sued Harvard over refusal to advance legal-defense costs. A civil complaint is not a criminal finding.
Labels
China Initiative case. Critics said racial targeting. Supporters said the documents. The caption is still § 1001, § 7206, FBAR.
Harvard exit
Crimson: spokesperson Jason A. Newton confirmed retirement on Feb. 1, 2023. Paid leave since 2020. Not a criminal disposition.
United States Capitol, west front. Architect of the Capitol. U.S. government work.
Sentence
Judge Zobel: time served; two years supervised release, first six months home detention; $50,000 fine; $33,600 restitution. Case later terminated.
Shenzhen
University page: joined Tsinghua SIGS April 28, 2025; Chair Professor. Use the school’s title. “Fled” is a headline, not the bio.
Reporting
Robert McGreevy, Fox News, 2026-05-02. Reporting. Prefer the Tsinghua title over “fled” framing.