Georgia Tech professor must resign over charitable donation scandal, feds say
A Georgia Institute of Technology professor must resign over a tax fraud scheme involving charitable donations and not paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes, according to federal prosecutors.
John Crittenden, 73, of Atlanta, is accused of lying about his charitable deductions on his tax returns — allowing him to avoid paying taxes — in a scheme that prosecutors said Georgia Tech was unaware of and involved Chinese nationals.
The environmental engineering professor, who researches scalable water treatment systems and technologies, had “deep ties” to China because of his work, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
While at Georgia Tech, Crittenden worked with Duo Li, a Chinese national, to run several companies in China, prosecutors said.
The companies, and people affiliated with Li, wired hundreds of thousands of dollars to both Crittenden’s bank account and the Georgia Institute of Technology Foundation (GTF), according to prosecutors, who said Crittenden then “donated” the money to GTF.
However, the donated funds were then set aside for Crittenden’s own use at Georgia Tech, prosecutors said.
Instead of claiming the donations as income on his tax returns, Crittenden illegally marked them as charitable deductions, according to prosecutors.
Among the donations Crittenden made, some came from funds he received from Chinese nationals, or their family, when they were postdoctoral researchers at Georgia Tech, prosecutors said. He also claimed these as charitable deductions, according to officials.
Now, Crittenden has pleaded guilty to tax fraud, the attorney’s office announced in a Sept. 1 news release.
McClatchy News reached out to Crittenden’s attorney for comment on Sept. 5 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
“Because of his actions Crittenden will no longer be employed by (Georgia Tech) and will also be required to pay all taxes owed,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement.
Georgia Tech spokesperson Blair Meeks told McClatchy News in an emailed statement that the university has been cooperating with the federal investigation into Crittenden and he’s on administrative leave.
“The faculty member has been on administrative leave since January 2023,” Meeks said. “Internal procedures are underway to determine further actions that need to be taken.”
Crittenden must step down from all his Georgia Tech positions ahead of Jan. 16, when he is scheduled to be sentenced in the case, and pay all taxes he avoided paying from 2011 to 2021, according to prosecutors. His resignation is part of his plea agreement.
In an example outlined in a criminal information filed in court, Crittenden lied on his 2021 tax return by reporting his total taxable income as $156,469.
However, Crittenden “knew and believed that his total taxable income was in excess of the amount reported,” the information charging him with fraud and false statements on a tax return says.
“Crittenden not only has to make amends by paying his owed taxes, but he also faces jail time, fines, and penalties for his decisions,” IRS Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman said in a statement.
Prosecutors didn’t specify how much prison time Crittenden is facing.
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