FBI Raid on Residence of Chinese American University Professors in Indiana, Reason Unknown

On Friday, March 28, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted searches at two residences of a Chinese professor couple at Indiana University. The professor’s wife works as a library analyst at the university. FBI agents spent almost the entire day at the searched residences and declined to comment on the nature of the searches.

The Indiana Daily Student reported that the Indiana University spokesperson did not disclose whether Xiaofeng Wang, a Chinese professor at the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at the university, is still employed there, redirecting inquiries to the FBI. However, Wang’s name did appear in the schedule for independent graduate studies at Indiana University for the fall of 2025.

“Today, the FBI executed court-authorized law enforcement activity at a residence in the Xavier Court neighborhood in Bloomington,” said FBI spokesperson Chris Bavender in a text message, “related to a separate residence in Carmel. We have no further comment at this time.”

Property records in Monroe County and Hamilton County show that the two residences belong to Xiaofeng Wang and Nianli Ma, the couple in question. According to the university website, Ma is the Chief Systems Analyst and Programmer at the Indiana University Libraries.

Neighbors at the Bloomington residence told The Herald Times that federal agents were present at the site for most of the day on Friday. Personnel from the Department of Homeland Security were also on the scene.

Reports indicated that over a dozen unmarked federal agency vehicles with Marion County plates were parked in the neighborhood where the searches took place, with 15 houses in the area. Neighbors stated that agents arrived before 8 a.m. on Friday and remained there later in the afternoon.

They were seen moving boxes into the house before staying inside. One neighbor mentioned that agents searched through a dumpster outside the residence. Bloomington Police Department cars were patrolling the area. None of the neighbors knew much about the Chinese couple who had lived there for about 20 years.

Neighbors described the couple as reclusive and rarely seen interacting with others. Despite living in close proximity, they were seldom spotted. A neighbor who had lived next door to the Chinese couple for two decades stated that she had never spoken to them.

Personal information about Wang on the website of the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering has been removed. However, reports revealed that Xiaofeng Wang is a professor of Computer Science at Indiana University Bloomington and the director of the Security and Privacy in Computing and Engineering (SPICE) Center.

A bio of Wang as an Outstanding Professor at Indiana University showed that he had joined the university in 2004, serving as the co-director of the Center for Distributed Cryptography, funded by the National Science Foundation. It stated that he was considered one of the most outstanding researchers in system security and privacy, overseeing research projects totaling over 20 million dollars.

Ma, listed in the Indiana University directory as a System Analyst and Programmer at the Herman B Wells Library.

On the SPICE website, Wang remains the director of the Security and Privacy in Computing and Engineering Center at Indiana University, focusing his research on system security and data privacy, specializing in security issues related to mobile and cloud computing, as well as human genomics data.