Purdue prof, wife plead guilty in research fund scheme

A Purdue University professor and his wife have pleaded guilty to using more that $1 million in federal research funds for their own personal expenses.

Sixty-one-year-old Qingyou Han of West Lafayette is director of Purdue’s Center for Materials Processing Research. He and his wife, 53-year-old Lu Shao of Lakewood, Ohio, pleaded guilty Friday to a felony wire fraud charge in federal court in Hammond.

Federal prosecutors say Han admitted using $1.3 million in National Science Foundation funds for personal and family expenses. The money was funneled into Shao’s company, Hans Tech LLC, which served as a front to pay the couple’s expenses.

Purdue spokesman Tim Doty tells the Journal & Courier that school officials are aware of Han’s plea, and “will carefully consider the matter in light of its policies.”