Fraud in the News

Couple attempts to outsmart NASA

A federal jury convicted a Lehigh University engineering professor and his wife of six out of 10 counts of wire fraud after hearing testimony the couple lied to NASA about who was running a $700,000 research program, according to The Morning Call article, Lehigh University professor and wife convicted of cheating NASA, by Peter Hall on Nov. 20, 2015.

According to the article, Yujie Ding, 53, and his wife, Yuliya Zotova, 41, of Upper Saucon Townshop, proposed a program in 2009 to develop a cutting-edge sensor that NASA would use to track climate change. Zotova, who has a doctorate in physics, would plan and direct the project, provide technical guidance and supervise graduate students in Ding's lab at Lehigh, where no more than half the work was to be subcontracted.

According to the article, prosecutors alleged that Zotova and Ding left students and research fellows to do all the work — build the sensor and fine-tune it for NASA. Meanwhile, Zotova and Ding made reports to NASA that the program was proceeding as described in the proposals. Lehigh research fellows and graduate students testified that they'd never seen Zotova or even met her.

According to the article, the couple sent invoices to NASA, via the Internet, seeking $560,000 for work that they didn't do according to the terms of their proposal, prosecutors said. Sentencing was scheduled for March.

Bushwhacked!

On Nov. 18, 2015, two stars of the Discovery Channel reality show "Alaskan Bush People" pleaded guilty in a Juneau court to lying on Permanent Fund dividend applications, according to the KTUU article, Judge rejects plea deal, says ‘Alaskan Bush People' stars deserve jail time, by Kyle Hopkins.

According to the article, Billy Brown, the 62-year-old patriarch, and his 31-year-old son, Joshua Brown, each pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree unsworn falsification. Juneau Superior Court judge Philip Pallenberg said the family stole $20,938 by lying on applications for Alaska's annual oil revenue windfall check. The case has called into question how long the Brown family actually lived in Alaska between 2009 and 2012.

According to the article, as part of a proposed plea deal, the two Browns would serve two years on probation, pay the dividend money and each complete 40 hours of community service.

However, in an update to the article on Nov. 19, 2015, Pallenberg rejected the plea deal. According to the article, the judge said, "I don't think the Browns should be treated more harshly because they have a TV show. … But they certainly shouldn't be treated more leniently because of that either." Pallenberg said jail time would be an appropriate punishment.

Faith, fraud and a pop music career

According to the Nov. 20, 2015, Reuters article, Singapore megachurch leaders sentenced to jail for pop music fraud, by Fathin Ungku, the co-founder of City Harvest Church in Singapore and five other leaders were sentenced to jail terms of up to eight years for fraudulently diverting S$51 million ($36 million) to support his wife's pop singing career.

According to the article, senior pastor, Kong Hee, was arrested in 2012 and charged with criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts. His wife, Ho Yeow Sun, the co-founder and executive director of the church, wasn't charged in the case.

The mix of faith and fraud has fascinated tightly regulated Singapore, according to the article, where such cases are rare in a city-state with little tolerance for corruption.