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So your probably sitting there with this Civil Investigative Demand about federal grant fraud and your entire research career or institution is crumbling. Maybe you had issues with data in publications. Maybe there’s problems with effort reporting. Or maybe your just caught up in there latest university fraud sweep. Look, we get it. Your ABSOLUTELY PANICKED. And you should be! Because professors are facing 20 YEARS in federal prison and universities are paying HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS in settlements!
Let me explain the academic nightmare your facing. NIH, NSF, DOD, and NASA all have dedicated fraud units working with DOJ to destroy “fraudulent” researchers!
Grant fraud isn’t just about fake data anymore – its about effort reporting, cost allocation, foreign affiliations, subcontracts, and equipment purchases! Every timesheet, every publication, every progress report becomes potential fraud! We’ve seen Nobel Prize candidates destroyed over accounting errors!
Here’s what’s really scary – universities are paying millions for cybersecurity violations on grants! Penn State paid $1.25 million just for not meeting security requirements! Your IT policies could trigger False Claims Act liability for EVERY grant!
Hold onto your tenure because these numbers will destroy entire universities!
Duke University paid $112.5 MILLION for research fraud! The whistleblower got $33.75 million! False Claims Act means TREBLE DAMAGES – if you got $10 million in grants, you owe $30 million! Plus up to $27,000 per false claim! Each progress report is a separate claim!
Criminal penalties for individuals are CATASTROPHIC! Major fraud against US carries 10 years prison! Wire fraud adds 20 years! False statements another 5 years! Professor Wang faces 35 years for Alzheimer’s research fraud!
Research misconduct DESTROYS careers permanently! Fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism trigger criminal prosecution!
“Fabrication” includes making up ANY data – even preliminary results! “Falsification” covers changing or omitting unfavorable data! “Plagiarism” includes self-plagiarism in grant applications! We’ve seen researchers imprisoned for reusing paragraphs from there own previous grants!
The Office of Research Integrity publishes your name FOREVER! Debarred from federal funding for life! Can’t collaborate on grants! Can’t review proposals! Your graduate students can’t get funding! One fabricated figure destroys decades of legitimate research!
Your probably wondering “Who reported me?” Let me tell you what puts researchers in DOJ’s crosshairs:
NSF OIG hotline receives thousands of allegations annually! Jealous colleagues reporting “suspicious” publications! Rejected grant applicants claiming unfair review! Graduate students angry about authorship! Even co-authors throw each other under the bus!
Automated plagiarism detection flags recycled text! Image forensics reveals manipulated figures! Statistical analysis shows impossible data! We’ve seen investigations triggered by anonymous Twitter accounts analyzing published papers!
Foreign affiliations are the NEW enforcement priority! Stanford paid $1.9 million for not disclosing foreign funding!
Thousand Talents participant? Your facing criminal charges! Consulted for Chinese university? Undisclosed conflict! Attended conference in Iran? Export control violation! We’ve seen tenured professors imprisoned for academic collaborations they thought were legitimate!
The China Initiative may be “over” but prosecutions continue! Every international collaboration scrutinized! Email with foreign researcher? Potential technology transfer! Your destroying your career trying to advance science globally!
ABSOLUTELY! And its happening to respected researchers! Criminal prosecutions for grant fraud are increasing!
Recent cases are terrifying! Harvard professor Charles Lieber convicted and sentenced to prison! University of Kansas professor convicted for hiding China ties! MIT professor Gang Chen prosecuted (though charges later dropped)! These aren’t fraudsters – there world-renowned scientists!
The collateral damage destroys everything – lose tenure immediately, professional licenses revoked, unable to practice medicine, and banned from campus! We’ve seen department chairs become Uber drivers because they can’t work in academia!
The scope is absolutely overwhelming! DOJ demands EVERYTHING about your research:
All grant applications and progress reports, lab notebooks and raw data, emails about research or funding, effort reporting and timesheets, financial records and receipts, student employment records, even personal calendars and travel records!
For institutions its worse – cost allocation methodologies, indirect cost calculations, compliance training records, internal audit reports, subrecipient monitoring, equipment inventories! How do you prove proper cost allocation from 10 years ago? You can’t!
Prepare for YEARS of career purgatory! Grant fraud investigations are extraordinarily complex:
Initial CID response (60-90 days of massive production), agency review of scientific merit (6-12 months), forensic accounting of expenditures (6-12 months), OIG interviews with lab members (6-12 months), DOJ prosecution decision (6-12 months), trial or settlement (12-24 months)!
Your looking at 3-5 years MINIMUM! During this time, grants suspended, can’t submit new proposals, students abandon your lab, and collaborators distance themselves! Legal fees? Expect $500,000 to $1 million! We’ve seen tenured professors declare bankruptcy!
Universities face CATASTROPHIC liability for faculty fraud! Responsible for all faculty misconduct under FCA!
One professor’s fraud triggers audit of ALL grants! Pattern of violations? Entire university debarred! Can’t receive federal funding! Research enterprise collapses! We’ve seen small colleges close after losing federal aid eligibility!
Compliance costs explode – mandatory monitors, enhanced training, quarterly certifications! Duke spent $85 million on compliance AFTER paying $112 million settlement! The cure is worse than the disease!
This is an IMPOSSIBLE choice! Self-reporting rarely reduces penalties significantly!
Voluntary disclosure to ORI? Still face False Claims Act! Report to university? They throw you under bus to save institution! Don’t report when required? Concealment charges! Your career is destroyed either way!
Universities demand you self-report so THEY get cooperation credit! But you still face personal criminal liability! We’ve seen professors report minor errors only to be prosecuted while university gets leniency!
YES! And there getting RICH destroying colleagues! Whistleblowers receive 15-30% of recovery!
Duke whistleblower got $33.75 MILLION! Even small cases yield millions! Disgruntled postdoc knows about data issues? They’re calling lawyers! Lab technician saw questionable practices? There filing qui tam lawsuit! Your own students become millionaires by reporting you!
The incentives are perverse – report your mentor, get rich! Report your collaborator, retire early! We’ve seen entire departments destroyed by whistleblower wars!
Look, we’re not your typical university counsel who protects the institution. We’re federal criminal defense attorneys who protect INDIVIDUAL researchers when grant issues become criminal prosecutions!
We understand scientific research and how data interpretation differs from fraud. We know effort reporting complexities and cost allocation nightmares. We can challenge forensic evidence and statistical analyses. Most importantly, we prevent civil investigations from becoming criminal cases!
Other firms tell you to cooperate with university and agency investigators. That’s EXACTLY how professors end up in federal prison! The government doesn’t care about your scientific contributions – they want convictions and recoveries. We fight strategically, protecting your freedom and career!
Call us RIGHT NOW at 212-300-5196
Grant fraud investigations destroy careers overnight!
Former federal prosecutors – Academic fraud defense experts – Available 24/7!
Don’t wait another second! OIG investigators are reviewing your publications! DOJ is analyzing your grants! Your colleagues are being interviewed! The university is preparing to sacrifice you! Your life’s work is being twisted into criminal fraud!
Remember – grant fraud isn’t about bad science anymore. Its about federal prison and career annihilation. One questionable figure, one effort reporting error, one undisclosed collaboration can trigger decades in prison. You need someone who understands both research complexity AND federal criminal defense. Call us NOW before that CID becomes an indictment!
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- ROBIN, GUN CHARGES ROBIN
NJ CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS