A researcher at the University of Kansas has been charged with two counts of theft and four related criminal charges. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says 37 year old Liuqi Gu of Lawrence, was charged in Douglas County District Court with one felony count of theft in excess of $100,000, theft between $25,000 and $100,000, unlawful acts concerning computers, making false information and one misdemeanor count of official misconduct and failure to pay state sales tax.

The complaint alleges from November 2016 to October 2018, Gu falsely represented that purchases he made from Thermo-Fisher Scientific were for the use of the University of Kansas in order to receive discounts from the company for his personal benefit or the benefit of another. It also alleges Gu used confidential information acquired in the course of his employment with the University of Kansas in order to avoid paying sales tax totaling between $25,000 and $100,000 on those purchases.