Feds file more charges against researcher
SAN FRANCISCO >> A visiting Stanford University researcher accused of hiding her status as an active member of the Chinese military is facing additional criminal charges, federal prosecutors said.
In addition to visa fraud, Chen Song, 39, is charged with obstruction of official proceedings, two counts of alteration of records and making false statements to a government agency, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a superseding indictment filed Thursday.
“We allege that while Chen Song worked as a researcher at Stanford University, she was secretly a member of China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army,” said U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson in a statement. “When Song feared discovery, she destroyed documents in a failed attempt to conceal her true identity. This prosecution will help to protect elite institutions like Stanford from illicit foreign influences.”
Song entered the United States on Dec. 23, 2018, using a J-1 visa, a document “for individuals approved to participate in workand study-based exchange visitor programs,” according to the indictment. In her visa applica
tion, she described herself as a neurologist who wanted to research brain disease at Stanford University. She also stated she had served in the Chinese military from Sept. 1, 2000, until June 30, 2011, was employed by Xi Diaoyutai Hospital and that her highest rank was “student.”
Prosecutors said none of what Song claimed was true — she was instead a member of the Chinese military when she entered the United States and the hospital
she listed on her visa application was a cover for her true employer, the PLA Air Force General Hospital in Beijing.
During her time in the United States, Song received funds from the Chinese government through the China Scholarship Council, including $1,000 per month during her first year, according to the indictment. Song in turn allegedly sent updates to the council detailing the nature, results and value of her research work at Stanford.
The additional charges stem from Song’s actions after she learned another PLA member had been charged
with visa fraud in June 2020. According to the indictment, she attempted to delete digital documents related to her military service and visa fraud, including an image of her PLA credentials and a letter she wrote to the Chinese Consulate in New York explaining the hospital listed on her visa application was a front.
Prosecutors said Song also denied any current or recent affiliation with the PLA in an interview with FBI agents and deleted emails related to her military service, employment and affiliation after she initially was charged with visa fraud in July 2020.
If convicted, Song faces up to 10 years in prison for the visa fraud charge; up to 20 years for each of the obstruction and alteration charges and up to five years for the false statements charge.
Song is scheduled to appear in court April 7 for a pretrial conference, with a trial set to begin April 12.
BELGRADE, SERBIA >> Djordje Balasevic, a Serbian singer who remained widely popular throughout the former Yugoslavia after the wars of the 1990s, has died after contracting the new coronavirus, state television reported Friday. He was 67.
Balasevic was admitted to a hospital in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad three days ago suffering from pneumonia that appeared to be a complication of COVID-19. State broadcaster RTS said he died at the hospital on Friday.
Balasevic launched his career in the late 1970s and early 1980s, first performing in bands before establishing a solo following with his soft pop music and witty lyrics.
Balasevic is survived by his wife and three children. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.