A Chinese doctor was busted at a Texas airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle US-funded cancer research back to his home country – and could face federal charges for the brazen theft.
Yunhai Li, 35, was nabbed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on July 9 after border patrol discovered the sensitive confidential medical records on his laptop during an inspection ahead of his flight to China, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
The Chinese national, who was employed as a researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center since 2022, was reportedly working on a vaccine to prevent breast cancer from spreading before abruptly quitting on July 1 and uploading the nearly-completed research to a Chinese server on his computer.
“Houston is proudly home to some of the most groundbreaking medical institutions in the world – publicly funded centers that are saving lives each day thanks to their innovative research,” District Attorney Sean Terre said in a statement.
“We have zero tolerance for any attempts that hurt our nation and our community’s ability to pioneer critical medical breakthroughs.”
Prosecutors said Li uploaded his research to his personal Google Drive while employed at the cancer center, and when caught by the institution, deleted the files and proved he had done so.
But Li – whose potentially life-changing work was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense – was also being paid by Chinese entities and had shared his files to a similar drive on a Chinese server called Baidu, court documents showed, Fox 26 reported.
Court records show he was secretly conducting research for Chongqing Medical University while employed and in the US on a non-immigrant scholar exchange visa – and never disclosed the conflict of interest despite signing a non-disclosure form that he had no foreign research ties or funding.
Border Patrol found unpublished research, trade secrets and confidential files, including writings, drawings, and models, stored in the Baidu account on the rogue doctor’s laptop.
“That intellectual property stays with us, so we can save lives,” Teare added.
Following his arrest, Li allegedly told police he swiped the research because he felt it was his right, insisting it was “going to waste,” according to court documents, the outlet reported.
The disgraced scientist was re-arrested Monday and charged with theft of trade secrets and tampering with government records, offenses which carry up to ten years in prison and hefty fines if convicted.
Officials said Li could also face federal charges for the renegade scheme.
The alleged double-dealing doctor reportedly posted a $5,100 bond and was required to surrender his passport as a condition of his release.
