MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C., Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A South Carolina man is accused of stealing at least $3.6 million in federal grants and making illegal campaign contributions to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Federal prosecutors and Graham's office said the senator had no knowledge of the alleged wrongdoing by Jian-Yun "John" Dong, The (Charleston) Post and Courier reported Wednesday.


Dong, 54, is charged in a 36-count indictment with using false claims and bogus paperwork to fleece federal agencies of millions of dollars in grant money awarded to the biotechnology firm he heads, GenPhar.

With help from Graham, the South Carolina company received $19.6 million in federal grants to develop vaccines for the Ebola, Marburg and dengue viruses, The Washington Post reported.

Instead, prosecutors charge Dong diverted the grant money for construction, travel and personal expenses.

In a separate, seven-count indictment, Dong and his wife are accused of conspiring to make at least $31,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Sen. Graham and his political action committee.

The money reportedly came from a German shareholder in GenPhar and was donated to Graham's campaign and political action committee in the names of others.

Federal campaign laws limited individual contributions to candidates to $4,600 while the ceiling for individual PAC contributions was $5,000.