An FBI agent alleges that Guan Lei, a researcher at UCLA, destroyed and tried to discard a computer hard drive after being interviewed by investigators.
A visiting researcher at UCLA has been arrested and charged with destroying evidence, the latest Chinese national to face accusations in U.S. courts of trying to conceal ties to China’s military or government institutions.
Guan discarded the damaged drive days after being interviewed by investigators and attempting to board a flight back to China, Hurt wrote.Guan made an initial appearance in court Friday afternoon, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said. It couldn’t be determined if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. A spokesman for UCLA said the school “cooperated fully” with investigators and referred questions to the federal prosecutor’s office.
Guan previously attended the National University of Defense Technology in China, one of three universities overseen by the country’s military, Hurt wrote in the affidavit. Guan told agents that as a student, he occasionally wore a uniform on state holidays and underwent some military training that involved “a lot of walking, running and standing,” the affidavit said, but he insisted that he was just a “normal student” and not a military officer.
Guan conducted research at UCLA since 2018, working with a professor — unnamed in court documents — to develop “an optimization algorithm” and apply it to machine learning, the affidavit said.Hurt wrote that Guan had access at UCLA to a “graphics processing unit,” a piece of technology with potential military applications, but the professor told agents “he was not alarmed by Guan’s activities and could not think of military or proprietary applications Guan might have unlawfully accessed at UCLA.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Manhattan Beach home of former UCLA football coach Jim Mora hits the marketFormer UCLA football coach Jim Mora has listed his Manhattan Beach home for sale at $11.995 million.
Read more »
COVID-19 deaths among young and working age Latinos skyrocket in California, study findsCalifornia saw a five-fold increase in coronavirus death rates among Latinos of working age over the past three months when the state reported a surge in coronavirus cases after partially reopening its economy earlier this summer, according to a new study.
Read more »
Teen charged in Kenosha killings praised police and supported TrumpKyle Rittenhouse, 17, appears in photos at a Trump rally this year in Des Moines. A TikTok video appeared to show Rittenhouse's recording from the rally. The account had the bio of 'BLUE LIVES MATTER” and “Trump 2020.'
Read more »
Manhattan Beach home of former UCLA football coach Jim Mora hits the marketFormer UCLA football coach Jim Mora has listed his Manhattan Beach home for sale at $11.995 million.
Read more »
Dog Breeds and Cognitive Traits: How Much Do Genes Explain?How much does a dog's breed influence the way they think and behave? Here's what we know, says mebwriter
Read more »
How Social Media Sleuths Found The Suspected Kenosha Shooter 12 Hours Before His ArrestSocial media users unearthed evidence on the internet to successfully identify the suspected shooter within hours.
Read more »