US prosecutors charged a leading academic at Harvard University Tuesday with hiding his alleged role in a Chinese government program that security officials say steals trade secrets. The arrest of Charles Lieber, the chairman of Harvard's chemistry and chemical biology department, is the latest development in a long-running saga over suspected intellectual property theft.

US sleuths are investigating hundreds of cases of alleged theft by Chinese scientists working in or visiting the United States. Two other scientists, both Chinese nationals, were also charged Tuesday, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

One is a Boston University science student who prosecutors say failed to inform US immigration that she was a member of China's armed forces, the People's Liberation Army.