Engineering Professor Pleads Guilty to Lying About Chinese Patents

A former electrical engineering professor faces just more than one year in prison for lying to a federal agent about his patents in China.

Simon Saw-Teong Ang, 64, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of making false statements to the FBI.

Ang, who led the University of Arkansas High Density Electronics Center, was arrested in 2020 and indicted on dozens of counts of wire and passport fraud.

Prosecutors alleged at the time that he failed to disclose ties to China on an application for a NASA grant.

The guilty plea, however, concerns a single count of lying to an FBI agent about his role in numerous inventions in China.

Court records show that Ang’s name appears on 24 Chinese patents that he did not disclose to Arkansas administrators.

Ang faces up to five years in prison, but he has the right to withdraw his plea if he is sentenced to anything other than one year and one day.

Sentencing is expected to take place in about four months.