University of Florida employees and students involved in illegal scheme to ship drugs and toxins to China
- University of Florida employees and students implicated in a multi-million dollar scheme to illegally ship dangerous drugs and toxins to China.
- The scheme involved fraudulently buying biochemical samples and then shipping them to China via a campus laboratory over seven years.
- The Justice Department is investigating the case based on federal court records.
A group of people from the University of Florida, including a research employee and students, were involved in a scheme. This scheme was investigated by the Justice Department. They illegally bought dangerous drugs and toxins and sent them to China over seven years. The research employee worked in a lab's stockroom. One student pretended to be a biomedical engineering student to buy items without suspicion. The student, Zheng, said she was tricked into helping and didn't know much about the substances she ordered. Zheng was contacted by the Justice Department and realized she was in trouble. The scheme's leader reassured her, but she later found out about the investigation. The university has banned TikTok and restricted property ownership for citizens of China and other countries. Zheng's advisor was unaware of her actions. The scheme involved ordering items and shipping them to China. Some individuals have been charged in this illegal scheme. Zheng was notified by a federal prosecutor about the investigation. She was targeted for criminal charges. The substances they were sending to China were not allowed to be exported. Zheng was manipulated into helping with the scheme. The leader of the scheme convinced her everything was fine until she was contacted by the authorities. The scheme continued even after some individuals were being investigated.