To propel Americans to the Moon and beyond, NASA has made significant investments that fuel innovation here on Earth. Each year, the Agency offers grants and cooperative agreements that support research at institutions across the United States. In order to maintain the nation’s competitive advantage and protect national security, federal law prohibits these grant recipients from collaborating bilaterally with the People’s Republic of China.
In 2011, Congress passed a law colloquially known as the Wolf Amendment, which prohibits NASA from using government funds to partner with Chinese entities without proper authorization. Together with other federal requirements, this means institutions may be ineligible for awards if they submit research proposals involving cooperation with China—or do not disclose foreign affiliations.
As NASA’s oversight authority, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) safeguards taxpayer dollars and ensures grant recipients do not take advantage of the Agency’s valuable resources. The OIG’s Office of Investigations (OI) is tasked with identifying and pursuing those who do not submit complete and truthful applications. In the last decade, OI investigators have led more than 100 grant fraud cases and recovered over $15 million, with nearly $5 million going directly back to NASA.
Just last year, OI completed a lengthy investigation into the University of Delaware (UD) for failing to disclose a professor’s ties to China. Over the course of a decade, the university had applied for multiple grants and engaged in cooperative agreements with NASA to fund marine environmental science research. Many of those awards listed UD faculty member Xiao-Hai Yan as a co-principal investigator—including one grant for over $700,000 that NASA issued in 2020.
After receiving a tip from a partner agency, OI investigators determined that Yan had clear connections to China, which the university did not mention on their grant applications. In addition to being a UD professor and an associate director of the NASA-Delaware Space Grant Program, Yan was also a faculty member at a Chinese university and was receiving funding from the Chinese government. Moreover, he was participating in the Thousand Talent Program: a Chinese initiative that recruits individuals with knowledge of or access to foreign technology.
UD ultimately agreed to a civil settlement with the Department of Justice for $715,580, which included more than $300,000 of restitution returned directly to NASA.
“Pursuing grant fraud cases is essential to protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring that federal research funds are awarded fairly and used responsibly,” said Adelle Harris, Special Agent in Charge of NASA OIG’s Eastern Field Office. “This case demonstrates NASA OIG’s vital role in safeguarding the integrity of Agency grant programs and holding people accountable for misrepresenting or misusing government resources.”
Although this particular case involved a threat to research security, OI pursues grant fraud allegations in many forms, including bribery, forgery, extortion, embezzlement, theft, conspiracy, and misappropriating funds for personal use. NASA OIG investigators work closely with federal partners to pool resources, close information gaps, and co-chair inter-agency working groups that enhance fraud detection.
Because NASA relies on universities to report possible conflicts of interest, the OIG is a critical failsafe to protect the Agency from those who break federal law. When institutions neglect their due diligence, it is a breach of both trust and national security.
If you suspect fraud or misconduct at NASA or its programs, contact OIG investigators via the hotline.
