US Charges 2 Chinese Nationals With Trying to Obstruct Probe Into Global Telecommunications Company

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland (C), FBI Director Christopher Wray (R) and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco hold a press conference at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington on Oct. 24, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Two Chinese intelligence officers have been charged by U.S. prosecutors for attempting to obstruct a criminal investigation and prosecution of a Chinese-based global telecommunications company.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the charges on Oct. 24.

Prosecutors allege that Guochun He, also known as “Dong He” and “Jacky He,” and Zheng Wang, also known as “Zen Wang,” had “orchestrated a scheme to steal files and other information” from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York relating to the ongoing federal criminal investigation and prosecution of the telecommunications company.

While the telecommunications company is not named in the criminal complaint, prosecutors state that the firm is headquartered in China and operates on a global scale and also conducts business in the United States, where it maintains several affiliates (pdf).

The unnamed company is also a defendant in an ongoing prosecution, court documents state.

According to the DOJ, He and Wang were allegedly conducting foreign intelligence operations targeting the United States, on behalf of the Chinese government.

‘Bitcoin Bribes’

Prosecutors also allege the two men paid a U.S. government employee a total of $61,000 worth of Bitcoin cryptocurrency as a bribe to get that employee to steal confidential information pertaining to the Justice Department’s ongoing probe of the company, in an effort to interfere with that prosecution.

Such information included which employees at the telecommunications company had been interviewed by the federal government, along with a description of the prosecutors’ evidence, a witness list, potential further charges to be levied against the company, and the government’s strategy ahead of trial.

However, the employee, whom the two men believed had been recruited as an asset, was in fact a double agent working on behalf of the FBI, according to the DOJ.

Both He and Wang have been charged with attempting to obstruct a criminal prosecution of the telecommunications company, while He has also been charged with two counts of money laundering relating to the $61,000 in Bitcoin bribes. If convicted, He faces up to 60 years in prison and Wang faces up to 20 years in prison.

While the DOJ has issued arrest warrants for the defendants, they remain at large.

The Biden administration has repeatedly warned of the national security risks posed by Chinese companies that are working for the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

“Today’s complaint underscores the unrelenting efforts of the PRC government to undermine the rule of law,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace on Tuesday.

“As alleged, the case involves an effort by PRC intelligence officers to obstruct an ongoing criminal prosecution by making bribes to obtain files from this Office and sharing them with a global telecommunications company that is a charged defendant in an ongoing prosecution.  We will always act decisively to counteract criminal acts that target our system of justice.”