Vienna Man Stole $1.8M From Government: Authorities

VIENNA, VA—A federal jury has charged Vienna man for an 11-year scheme obtaining over $1.8 million from U.S. agencies.

Zheng Geng, 59, CEO of Virginia and Maryland-based Xigen LLC, was arrested and received six counts of charges. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud and a two-year mandatory minimum consecutive sentence for each of the aggravated identity theft charges.

According to the indictment, Geng submitted grant applications for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, which aims to promote technological innovation. From 2005 to 2016, he prepared fraudulent applications and false endorsements from places such as Harvard University Medical School and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Geng also budgeted for subcontractors without actually giving them the funds.

The U.S. government approved more than $1.8 million for SBIR awards and grants through the Department of Health and Human Service’s National Institutes of Health and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The government alleges Geng used all of the funds for personal use.

“The United States Department of Health and Human services provides research grant funds to qualified small businesses; we cannot tolerate the theft of taxpayer funds meant for honest research projects” said Nick DiGiulio, special agent in charge for the Inspector General’s Office of HHS, in a statement.

“The NASA Office of Inspector General will continue to aggressively investigate those who undermine and defraud NASA programs and operations,” said NASA Inspector General Paul Martin.

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