Two Chinese nationals have been accused of paying thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry to obstruct a federal investigation into a major telecom company.
According to prosecutors, the two men tried to recruit a US law enforcement official as an intelligence operative to disrupt the investigation.
However, the officer worked as a double agent for the FBI.
Eleven other Chinese nationals have also been charged in two other espionage cases.
According to the indictment, the two men – identified as Gouchun He and Zheng Wang – were attempting to establish a relationship with a US law enforcement official and were seeking details of the investigation, including witnesses, evidence and possible criminal charges. They also asked the official to secretly record sessions on negotiation strategy.
While the company was not named in the documents or by Attorney General Merrick Garland at a news conference Monday, US media have reported that it is China-based tech giant Huawei, citing sources familiar with the probe. US officials refused to identify the company.
“This was an egregious attempt by PRC (People’s Republic of China) intelligence officials to shield a PRC-based company from accountability and to undermine the integrity of our judicial system,” Mr. Garland said.
The two suspected spies paid the official tens of thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry, including $41,000 in bitcoin for a single-page photo – marked “secret” – that was said to discuss a plan to charge and arrest company officials. Payments were made just last week.
Unknown to the suspected spies, the US official was working on behalf of the FBI and leaking forged documents, Mr Garland told reporters.
- Americans in the crosshairs of China’s spy game
In another New Jersey case, four people – including three suspected Secret Service agents – were charged with using a fake think tank to recruit current and former US officials. According to Mr Garland, the suspects hoped to source technology and have it shipped to China, as well as disrupting US protests that could be “embarrassing”.
In addition, seven Chinese nationals have been charged with attempting to force a naturalized US citizen to return to China, part of what US officials described as part of a transnational effort to recover refugees and dissidents and perceived opponents of the Chinese to silence the government. Two of these suspects are in custody.
According to Mr Garland, the Chinese government forced the victim’s nephew to travel from China to deliver threats, told him “the only way out is to come back and turn yourself in” and sent agents to the victim’s son’s home.
“They made it clear that their harassment would not stop until the victim returned to China,” Mr Garland said.
Prosecutors filed similar charges against suspected Chinese spies last year, accusing them of attempting to influence US citizens and residents.
For example, in late 2021 and early 2022, US officials believe a subsidiary of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) hired a US-based private investigator to uncover “unflattering information” about a US congressional candidate taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2015, as well as at least one state legislator who they believed could stand for re-election.
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