Fact check: Did Dr Charles Lieber from the USA manufacture and sell coronavirus to china?

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has brought upon a number of conspiracy theories which are being fuelled by social media users. These conspiracy theories have little to no credibility behind them and thus are often left unverified and without any pieces of evidence to back their claim. Now, a similarly shocking theory about a doctor from the USA have come forward. 

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Claim - 

Many internet users on various social media platforms are claiming that the coronavirus was manufactured and sold to China by a scientist in the USA named Dr Charles Lieber. The viral posts were suggesting that Dr Charles Lieber was taken into custody for taking funds from a Chinese lab which is associated with the origin of the coronavirus outbreak. Various users were also pointing out that Dr Charles Lieber was taken into custody along with his two other students of the Chinese origin. 

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Rating - False

Though Dr Charles Lieber was taken into custody by the authorities in America, it had no connection with the manufacturing of the coronavirus. The scientist was taken into custody for falsifying details about receiving funds from Wuhan University of Technology (WUT). He also gave misleading information about having connections with the Chinese government and a certain recruitment programme funded by China's government. Dr Lieber's arrest had no link with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It has also been confirmed that coronavirus hasn't been manufactured by anyone. 

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Origin-

On January 28, 2020, Dr Charles Lieber was taken into custody which caused ripples in the medical circle of the USA. Charles Lieber was taken into custody for reportedly making false statements about getting funding from China.  This was picked up by many social media users who speculated Charles to be the mind behind manufacturing the coronavirus. 

Google Trends analysis - 

As conspiracy theories about Dr Charles Lieber being associated with the coronavirus pandemic started surfacing on the internet, various users were quick to search and confirm the same. People searched things like 'man who sold coronavirus to china' and Dr Charles Lieber's arrest. Check it out below - 

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