On Friday, FBI agents raided two residences associated with Indiana University computer science professor XiaoFeng Wang. They further looked into the real estate owned by his wife, Nianli Ma. The homes — both houses of worship, specifically located in Carmel, Indiana and Bloomington, Indiana, respectively — were the subject of recent search warrants executed by federal agents. This development comes as Wang’s online profile was removed from Indiana University’s Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, where he has served as an associate dean for research.
Wang, a native of China, has spent the last two decades at Indiana University. He is a national leader in research on cryptography, privacy, and cybersecurity. As a result, his work has been awarded almost $23 million in funding from a variety of federal government agencies. As the designated principal investigator for his major research projects, Wang’s impact on his field has been great.
While searching the Carmel home, FBI agents spent more than four hours carrying away boxes with no idea of their contents. A woman identified by neighbors as Nianli Ma was pictured arriving to the home FBI agent Jackie Bennett Jr. Agents were seen removing a cell phone from her person during the search.
“I can confirm the FBI executed federal search warrants at homes in Carmel and Bloomington Friday. We have no further comment at this time,” – An FBI spokeswoman
Surprisingly, in spite of this apparently ongoing criminal investigation, there remains no public indication of any federal criminal charge against Wang or his spouse. As of this writing, Wang and Ma’s online profiles have been removed from their departments at Indiana University. This leads to deeply concerning questions about how the investigation will impact their professional reputations.
Indiana University officials have stopped short of elaborating on what happened.
“I’ll refer you to the FBI for any information.” – An Indiana U. spokesman