A federal grand jury in the District of Maryland has indicted a Pennsylvania man for allegedly defrauding the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) of approximately $16 million in federal grant funds.
According to court documents, Hoau-Yan Wang, 67, was a tenured medical professor at a public university’s medical school and served as a paid advisor and consultant to a publicly traded Texas biopharmaceutical company. From May 2015 through April 2023, Wang is accused of fabricating and falsifying scientific data in grant applications submitted to the NIH on behalf of himself and the biopharmaceutical company. The fraudulent grant applications sought funding for research into a potential treatment and diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s disease, resulting in approximately $16 million in grants from 2017 to 2021. Part of these funds supported Wang’s laboratory work and salary.
The indictment alleges that Wang's work under these grants pertained to the early developmental phases of the proposed drug and diagnostic test, known as Phase 1 and Phase 2 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It further claims that Wang falsified scientific data regarding how the proposed drug and diagnostic test were intended to function and their impact on certain indicators associated with Alzheimer’s disease after treatment.
Wang faces charges including one count of major fraud against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of false statements. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison for major fraud, up to 20 years for each count of wire fraud, and up to five years for false statements.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, along with FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Director David Sundberg announced the indictment.
The FBI Washington Field Office is leading the investigation into this case. Trial Attorney Andrew Tyler, Deputy Chief Anna Kaminska, and Assistant Chief Leslie Garthwaite from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting.
An indictment is merely an allegation; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.