U.S. officials have dropped charges against a former IU doctoral student accused last year of failing to disclose ties to China's government.
In August, federal agents charged Zhao Kaikai with a visa violation and lying to U.S. government officials. They said he lied about connections to the Chinese military.
Kaikai, a Chinese citizen, was a Ph.D. candidate at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at the time.
John Childress, an acting U.S. attorney, moved to dismiss the indictment in a federal court in Indiana last week. Judge James Sweeney approved the dismissal Monday. It was not immediately clear what led the U.S. to drop the charges.
READ MORE: Chinese IU Doctoral Student Arrested, Charged With Visa Fraud
In April, the Indiana Daily Student reported that Kaikai’s trial had been moved from May to October for unspecified reasons.
The original indictment had accused Kaikai of meeting with Chinese consulate officials last July and later lying to FBI agents about the meeting. It also charged the student with a visa violation and lying to U.S. officials about being a member of the Chinese People’s Army.
Kaikai is no longer an IU student, a spokesperson said today.
The Chinese consulate in Chicago did not immediately respond to inquiries today.
Cathy Knapp and Bob Zaltsberg contributed to this report.
