Vaccine Researcher Wanted for Fraud Is Arrested, Being Extradited to US

A vaccine researcher wanted by American authorities for fraud has been arrested.

“We can confirm that Poul Thorsen was arrested in Germany on June 4, 2025,” Katherine Harris, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, told The Epoch Times in an email on Sept. 17.

The extradition of Thorsen to the United States is in process, she said.

Thorsen, of Denmark, was indicted by a grand jury in 2011 on charges of wire fraud and money laundering as part of a scheme to steal grant money the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded to government agencies in Denmark for researching autism.

Thorsen allegedly aimed to steal more than $1 million in grant money from the U.S. government.

He was working as a visiting scientist at the CDC when the agency sought applications for research related to infant disabilities, according to court documents. Thorsen promoted awarding money to Denmark, and the CDC awarded more than $11 million from 2000 to 2009 to study any link between autism and vaccination, among other issues. Thorsen moved to Denmark in 2002 and became the principal investigator of the grant.

Thorsen allegedly began stealing grant money through fraudulent invoices and stole more than $1 million in total, according to authorities.

Thorsen, who could not be reached, faces decades in prison if convicted. He is listed as a fugitive by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Breitbart, which first reported Thorsen’s arrest, that he was grateful to Attorney General Pam Bondi for working with the department to capture Thorsen and bring him to justice.

The Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Justice did not return requests for comment by publication time.

Thorsen is one of the authors of several papers that analyzed Danish data. One study concluded that there was an increase in autism in Denmark following the discontinuation of vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative. Another paper determined that fewer children who received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine were diagnosed with autism, compared with children who did not receive the vaccine.

“This study provides strong evidence against the hypothesis that MMR vaccination causes autism,” Thorsen and coauthors wrote.

Kennedy announced earlier this year that U.S. officials would determine the causes of autism. He said in August that interventions that are “almost certainly causing” autism would be identified publicly in September.

The CDC also recently said it would be awarding money to U.S. researchers to look into the association between vaccinations and autism.