GA Tech Professor Indicted for Visa, Wire Fraud
Gee-Kung Chang, a professor at Georgia Tech, has been indicted for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and visa fraud, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced. “Chang allegedly abused his position as a professor at Georgia Tech, an institution that was a designated exchange sponsor for the Department of State’s J-1 Visa program, to arrange for Chinese nationals to fraudulently obtain and maintain J-1 Visas,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia. It is not clear how many visas or Chinese nationals were involved or when they were in the United States.
“In the J-1 Visa paperwork submitted to the Department of State, the Chinese nationals allegedly indicated that they would be working with Chang at Georgia Tech. In reality, the indictment alleges, after arriving in the United States, the Chinese nationals traveled to and resided in New Jersey” to work with an individual named Jianjun Yu at a firm called ZTE USA. Some of the Chinese nationals “were paid salaries from Georgia Tech while they were actually working at ZTE USA,” DOJ said. Chang and Yu, at the time “a research director at ZTE USA—a subsidiary of ZTE Corporation, a partially state-owned Chinese telecommunications and information technology company—in Morristown, New Jersey, allegedly conspired together to bring Chinese nationals to the United States to conduct research at the company.” The March 18 indictment was announced March 24. Various news outlets reported that Georgia Tech officials said Chang was placed on administrative leave “pending the outcome of the judicial process.” Georgia Tech “cooperated fully with the FBI during its investigation” and is “committed to the highest standards of integrity in all areas of operation,” officials said.