Like pretty much any other field, someone who is determined to misuse his 'authority' will be able to do so for a time. Your utterly bankrupt argument can be exposed quite easily by analogy: Bill Clinton's misdeeds as president were not an indictment of the presidency or of our constitutional system, but rather an indictment of the man.
This scientist obviously made a name for himself by conducting proper science, and then misused the authority he'd thereby been granted for whatever unknown reason (perhaps for personal renown, or perhaps for nationalistic reason, or whatever).
"This scientist obviously made a name for himself by conducting proper science, and then misused the authority he'd thereby been granted for whatever unknown reason (perhaps for personal renown, or perhaps for nationalistic reason, or whatever)."
OK. Maybe I'm being too opaque here.
HOW DID IT GET PAST PEER REVIEW?
Peer review is the golden gate past which nothing false should normally enter.