In a court filing the FBI said, it believes a Chinese researcher, who has been accused of visa fraud is holed up for a month in the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.

She has been accused of hiding her affiliation with the Chinese military, said the FBI in court filings.

The filings in U.S. District Court in San Francisco said that Juan Tang, who worked at University of California, Davis, falsely claimed on her visa application that she had not served in the Chinese military. But investigators found photos of her in a Chinese military uniform and discovered she had worked as a researcher at China’s Air Force Military Medical University.

On June 20, after being questioned by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation she went to the consulate and has not come out since.

U.S. law enforcement cannot enter a foreign embassy or consulate unless invited. Top officials, including ambassadors have diplomatic immunity.

The development comes in the wake of the United States giving China 72 hours to close its consulate in Houston midst accusations of widespread espionage.

Prosecutors have argued against bail for another Chinese researcher, Chen Song, also arrested for visa fraud. According to court filings, Song worked at Stanford University conducting neurological research.

Court filings also show two other recently charged Chinese researchers who worked at University of California, San Francisco and Duke University.

For years, the FBI has warned universities on the risk posed by foreign researchers on intellectual property theft in the United States.

The United States has tightened restrictions on student visas.

Categories: Creativity, Entrepreneurship, HR & Organization, Regulations & Legal