Former professor to plead to defrauding Chinese students

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — A former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor has agreed to plead guilty to federal crimes connected to defrauding Chinese graduate students and visiting scholars.

The Journal Sentinel reported that prosecutors charged Yue Liu on Friday with wire fraud and making an unlawful financial transaction. A plea agreement also filed Friday calls for him to plead guilty to both counts.

Liu, a civil and environmental engineering professor, created a foundation in 2016 to help foreign graduate students at UW-Milwaukee meet various expenses, according to court documents.

Students wired $1.1 million to the foundation between 2016 and 2020. Liu used some of the money to pay personal expenses and repay the university for research expenses. A relative also paid Liu to become a research assistant at the school and several visiting scholars from China also paid him to spend time on campus.

Liu was still working at the university as of last year. UW-Milwaukee spokeswoman Michelle Johnson told the Journal Sentinel for Friday’s editions that he’s no longer employed at the school.

Liu’s attorney, listed in online court records as Peter Zeidenberg, didn’t immediately return a message from The Associated Press on Friday evening.