Morgan State professor Manoj Kumar Jha, 45, of Severn, was indicted by a grand jury Nov. 14 on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud and falsification of records, authorities said. He is accused of obtaining $200,000 through fraud and attempting to obtain $500,000 more from the National Science Foundation, according to a statement from Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for Maryland and Allison Lerner, the foundation’s inspector general.
According to the indictment, Jha is accused of obtaining grant funds from January 2008 to July 2009 from the foundation’s Small Business Technology Transfer program and attempting to get more. He is accused of using the funds to pay his mortgage and credit card bills, authorizing $11,000 in salary payments to his wife, who did not perform any foundation-related work and writing a $6,000 check to himself, authorities said.