Dr. Qingyun Sun, right, speaks during a meeting at the China University of Mining and Technology in 2016
From an Article by Steven Allen Adams, The Inter-Mountain, Elkins WV, July 24, 2020
CHARLESTON — A former professor at West Virginia University involved in the proposed $83.7 billion China Energy deal pleaded guilty in federal court for improper reimbursements for a trip to China.
According to information released Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia, Dr. Qingyun Sun pleaded guilty to wire fraud and filing a false tax return.
Sun is a former associate professor at WVU and the associate director of the United States-China Energy Center at the university. He also worked with the West Virginia Department of Commerce and the State Development Office as an adviser and was the governor’s assistant on China affairs.
The wire fraud charge stems from a 2015 trip by Sun to China on behalf of the WVU and the Development Office to arrange for a visit by West Virginia trade officials. The visit involved leading a delegation at a coal expo and Beijing.
According to federal prosecutors, Sun paid for a coach ticket and a first-class ticket, submitting a reimbursement to WVU for the coach ticket and a reimbursement for the first-class ticket to Synfuels Americas Corp., where Sun also was employed. Synfuels, headquartered in China with offices in Virginia, specializes in coal-to-liquids and gas-to-liquids processing. Sun only used the first-class ticket.
According to the second charge, Sun exaggerated his business-related travel expenses on a joint income tax return with his wife in 2014. The business-related travel expenses were either paid for with a state purchasing card, reimbursed by WVU, or reimbursed by Peabody Energy, where Sun also was a consultant. Sun also failed to state his financial interests in accounts for Chinese businesses where he had partial authority.
Sun is no longer an employee of WVU, but was still part of the United States-China Energy Center as of at least 2019.
Sun completed his doctorate at WVU in 1996, remaining at the university to teach. Most recently, Sun served as assistant for China affairs for governors Earl Ray Tomblin and Jim Justice.
Sun was involved with working with Chinese officials that resulted in a memorandum of understanding signed by West Virginia and China. In November 2017, Justice announced the state had entered into an agreement with China Energy Investment Corp. The investment, valued at $83.7 billion, involved China Energy making numerous investments in Marcellus Shale natural gas production and downstream industries, such as chemical manufacturing interests.
The deal was part of a $250 billion trade deal negotiated between China and the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2017. Former West Virginia Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher traveled to China twice to secure the $83.7 billion memorandum of understanding with China Energy. So far, nothing has ever come of the deal, though Chinese officials have visited the state since the agreement.
According to flight records, Sun and Steven Hedrick, the chairman, president and CEO of Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research and Innovation Center Inc., used a state plane to usher Chinese officials, including former China Shenhua Energy Co. President and Deputy Party Secretary Jiming Zhang, around the state.
The group visited several locations of petrochemical manufacturing businesses, manufacturers, natural gas production facilities, as well as a casino. Locations included: Dow Chemical in South Charleston; M and G Polymers in Mason County; Century Aluminum in Ravenswood; the Braskem production plant in Kenova; the Covestro plant in New Martinsville; the PTT Global America project in Belmont County, Ohio; Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack, and Resort in New Cumberland; The MarkWest Sherwood Complex in Doddridge County; and the Shell Pennsylvania Petrochemical Complex.
As part of the plea agreement, Sun will pay $6,233 in restitution to WVU. He also faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the wire fraud charge and up to three years in prison and another $250,000 fine for the tax fraud charge.
A federal judge will sentence Sun at a later date. A federal information plea implies that Sun is cooperating with federal investigators.
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See also: $84 Billion China Deal for West Virginia is a Continuing Mystery, Article by Steven Adams, Parkersburg News & Sentinel, July 14, 2019
Senator Manchin, environmental activists seek details on China Energy deal
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Former WVU professor sentenced to 3 years of probation due to tax and wire fraud charges
Article by Leah Schoolcraft, WBOY TV News 12, December 4, 2020
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – A former West Virginia University professor was sentenced Friday to three years probation after defrauding WVU and filing a false tax return, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.
Qingyun Sun, 58, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was sentenced today to three years of probation, with the first four months on home confinement, after both offenses arose out of his official travel to China. Sun pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with wire fraud and filing a false tax return in July 2020.
Sun was a Chinese National employed by WVU as an Associate Professor and the Associate Director of the United States-China Energy Center at the university.
According to officials, as a part of his employment at WVU, through the West Virginia Development Office, he also acted as the Governor’s Assistant for China affairs.
He was also employed by Synfuels Americas Corporation, an energy conversion technology provider of coal-to-liquids and gas-to-liquids processes located in Sterling, Virginia, but headquartered in Beijing, China.
Officials explained that from July 2011 to May 2015, Peabody Energy Generation Holding Company based in St. Louis, Missouri, paid consulting fees to Energy United LC, a consulting business Sun established in 2005. The scheme involved Sun’s operation of his consulting business through Energy United.
In 2015, Sun traveled to China on behalf of WVU and the WV Development Office to prepare for an upcoming visit to China by WVU representatives and lead a West Virginia industrial delegation for a coal expo in Beijing. Sun booked both a coach flight and a business class flight for this trip, submitting a request for reimbursement to WVU for the coach flight and submitting a request for reimbursement to Synfuels Americas for the business flight. Sun only used the business class ticket for his trip.
In 2014, Sun filed a joint income tax return with his wife, grossly overstating his business-related travel expenses, when a large sum of those travel expenses was paid for by a State Purchasing Card or reimbursed to him by WVU and Peabody Energy. He also failed to state any financial interest in, or authority over, a financial account in a foreign country. Sun had an interest in numerous financial accounts in China.
According to the release, as a part of the plea agreement, Sun has agreed to pay restitution of $6,233.12 in full to WVU. Sun is no longer employed by WVU. Sun was also ordered to pay for the four months of home confinement monitoring as a part of his sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod J. Douglas prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The FBI and the Internal Revenue Service investigated. WVU cooperated in the investigation of this case.
Senior U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley presided.
https://www.wboy.com/top-stories/former-wvu-professor-sentenced-to-3-years-of-probation-due-to-tax-and-wire-fraud-charges/