Couple charged with defrauding NASA

Subject: Couple charged with defrauding NASA Sun Nov 01, 2009 11:20 pm

Dated 10/31/09:

Quote :: ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A University of Florida professor and his wife are facing fraud charges in connection with a $3.7 million contract they had with NASA, court documents reveal.

Nuclear scientist Samim Anghaie and his wife Sousan were arrested Friday after a federal grand jury handed up indictments charging them with wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements to the government, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Anghaie, a professor at the University of Florida, heads the school's Innovation Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute. He has been working under two NASA grants to study the use of nuclear power for space flight.

Prosecutors say the Anghaies created records for fictitious employees at the institute and put government money meant for salaries into their own bank accounts. They also say the Anghaies started a private company, New Era Technology, which falsely billed NASA for research work they stole from graduate and doctoral students without their knowledge.

Samim Anghaie has been put on administrative leave by the university, which says it has cut off his "access to funding, awards and university resources."