A psychology professor at Central Michigan University is accused of stealing research money earmarked for Parkinson’s research and using it to gamble at casinos all over the country.
Justin Dohoon Oh-Lee, a psychology professor at CMU, is charged with hiring fake participants for Parkinson’s disease research experiments and pocketing stipends paid to them by the university. He then took the money to casinos in Detroit, Las Vegas and Florida.
About $35,000 are unaccounted for, according to Inside Higher Ed.
A university-led audit of Oh-Lee’s experiments uncovered the theft earlier this year. The auditor first contacted police in April.
Oh-Lee apparently knew he was in trouble when administrators began asking questions. He reportedly called a university official and said he made “a horrible mistake and I just want to come clean and explain to you and that I’ll never make those mistakes again,” according to The Morning Sun.
The professor is currently free on a $100,000 bond.
His allegedly criminal behavior and gambling problem didn’t stop him from being a hit with students. Oh-Lee received almost entirely positive reviews on ratemyprofessor.com.