ATLANTA — Poul Thorsen, a 65-year-old Danish researcher and former federal fugitive, pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud for operating a scheme that stole over $1 million in federal grant money intended for overseas autism research.
Thorsen previously served as a visiting scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between 2000 and 2009, the CDC awarded more than $11 million in grants to two Danish governmental agencies to study relationships between autism and vaccine exposure, cerebral palsy and infection during pregnancy and childhood development and fetal alcohol exposure.
In 2002, Thorsen became the principal investigator responsible for administering those funds.
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According to federal court records, Thorsen systematically stole the CDC grant money from February 2004 through June 2008 by submitting over a dozen fraudulent invoices for expense reimbursements.
The invoices contained the forged signature of a CDC laboratory section chief. Based on the fraudulent submissions, Aarhus University transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars into credit union accounts that belonged personally to Thorsen, despite his claims that the accounts belonged to the CDC.
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Thorsen withdrew the stolen funds for personal use, purchasing a home in Atlanta, a Harley Davidson motorcycle and Audi and Honda vehicles.
He also withdrew cash, paid off credit card balances and transferred funds to other personal accounts, diverting more than $1 million from Aarhus University and Odense University Hospital.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg addressed the scope of the multi-year scheme after Thorsen’s guilty plea.
“Thorsen ran a multi-year fraud scheme to cheat the CDC, diverting valuable federal grant money to service his greed and inflated lifestyle,” Hertzberg said. “His fraud was especially reprehensible because he stole public funds that had been earmarked for research related to infant disabilities and birth defects.”
Hertzberg said now, Thorsen will “finally be held to account.”
A federal magistrate judge issued an arrest warrant for Thorsen on April 13, 2011 and he was placed on the HHS Office of Inspector General’s top 10 most wanted fugitives list.
Thorsen evaded law enforcement for more than 14 years by remaining in Denmark until German authorities arrested him while he was traveling on June 4, 2025.
Channel 2 Action News reported when Thorsen, who’d remained jailed in Germany, was extradited to the United States on May 7.
He has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service without bail since his extradition.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. Kelly Blackmon, special agent in charge for HHS-OIG, said the agency was committed to protecting public research funds.
“Today’s guilty plea represents an important step toward holding accountable those who steal taxpayer dollars intended to advance critical public health research,” Blackmon said. “HHS-OIG remains committed to protecting HHS program funds and we will continue to pursue anyone who attempts to exploit these resources for personal gain.”
Thorsen is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 1, 2026.
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