A married couple from China has been found guilty of attempting to steal advanced research from a children’s hospital in Ohio, with plans to transfer the information to China. As a result, their U.S. citizenship will be revoked, according to the Justice Department’s announcement on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge James E. Simmons Jr. ruled that Li Chen and Yu Zhou would lose their naturalized American citizenship. This decision follows their convictions on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets. These offenses were deemed to involve “moral turpitude,” disqualifying them from possessing the good moral character required for naturalization, as stated by federal prosecutors.

Attorney General Pam Bondi commented, “Securing citizenship after committing grave crimes against the American populace is a blatant misuse of our immigration system.”

She further emphasized, “These recent denaturalizations underscore the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring that citizenship remains a privilege to earn, not a right to exploit.”

A Chinese couple’s U.S. citizenship will be revoked following their conviction for attempting to steal research from a hospital, as announced by the DOJ on Tuesday. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

For ten years, Chen and Zhou were employed at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, each working in different research laboratories. Authorities revealed they established a biotech company in China, which was founded using the misappropriated trade secrets.

The pair received funding from China’s State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs, authorities said. 

The proprietary information helped the pair develop kits for identifying and treating different medical conditions, the DOJ said, adding Chen received support from the Chinese government in setting up the business.

U.S. Judge James E. Simmons Jr. ordered Li Chen and Yu Zhou stripped of their naturalized U.S. citizenship. (Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via Reuters/File photo)

Zhou entered the United States in 2005 as an exchange visitor. Zhou arrived in the U.S. again in 2008, on a specialty occupation visa sponsored by NCH, and he adjusted his immigration status to permanent resident in 2011 as the derivative spouse of Chen. 

Chen became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016, and Zhou naturalized in 2017. Zhou and Chen were arrested in 2019 for crimes related to theft of medical trade secrets, the DOJ said. 

They both received $1.5 million in transactions resulting from their exchange of exosome isolation intellectual property.

According to the DOJ, Chen became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016, and Zhou was naturalized in 2017. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Chen was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and Zhou was sentenced to 33 months in prison.

“The court held that the couple’s wire fraud — and thus their conspiracy to commit wire fraud — constituted a crime involving moral turpitude that warranted the revocation of Defendants’ naturalization,” the Justice Department said. 

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