Flight tickets, shredded paper in a sealed storage bag and a partnership agreement with an unnamed tech company were among the 42 items the FBI reported it seized March 28 from IU professor Xiaofeng Wang’s Carmel home.
The items seized in the Bloomington home aren’t yet unsealed to the public.
Wang was a tenured professor at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, until IU fired him the same day as his homes were searched. The records unsealed Oct. 3 reveal the FBI’s reasons for the search — accusations against Wang for false statements, theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and wire fraud.
Wang’s lawyer declined to comment.
The FBI obtained warrants for Wang’s documents related to research grants and funding, including drafts and submissions to the National Science Foundation. Wang is the founder and was formerly the lead principal investigator of the NSF Center for Distributed Confidential Computing. He is now listed on the center’s site as a collaborator.
IU terminated Wang and his wife, former IU Libraries analyst Nianli Ma, in late March. Wang received an email from Provost Rahul Shrivastav detailing his termination the same day the FBI raided his residences in Carmel and Bloomington. Ma was terminated four days prior on March 24.
The case drew national attention. Stanford cybersecurity scholar Riana Pfefferkorn filed a motion to unseal the warrants used to search Wang’s Bloomington and Carmel residences. She argued in her motion unsealing the documents would “inform the public and the news media and help to dispel rumor and speculation arising from this unusual and newsworthy event."
The U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana granted part of Pfefferkorn’s motion to unseal. The court ruled the clerk must unseal the two warrants used to search the residences. The search warrant connected to the search of Wang’s Bloomington residence was unsealed, as well as the search warrant and the inventory of seized items of Wang’s Carmel residence. The inventory for Wang’s Bloomington residence is not yet unsealed.
However, the court denied the request to unseal the search warrant affidavit in both cases, citing the reason as the U.S. government’s investigation being ongoing. Affidavits reveal information testified under oath and provide reasoning behind warrants.
The court stipulated that the government must update the court on the investigation by Jan. 1, 2026, so the court can better determine when and if the search warrant affidavits may be unsealed.
In its ruling, the court cited a previous Illinois circuit court case, writing “The extraordinary step of sealing judicial records, however, cannot last forever.”
What did the documents reveal?
The search warrants for both homes were signed March 21, a week before Wang’s termination.
The FBI removed 42 items from Wang’s Carmel residence. Multiple electronic and digital storage devices were detailed in the inventory. The FBI seized some of Wang’s communications, including printed emails and hand-written notes. At least 10 of the listed items related to travel, including boarding passes and hotel information.
The warrants detailed what items were subject to seizure including those that were evidence of conspiracy or a plan to commit Wang’s subject offenses. They also included travel documents, including applications to adjust immigration status in the United States and correspondence about any research or grant applications.
The list of items to be seized was the same for both residences, with the exception of residence descriptions and items meant to establish who resided at each respective residence.
UPDATED: This story has been updated to clarify Xiaofeng Wang's lawyer declined to comment after publication.
