Two Chinese Intelligence Officers Charged With Bribing FBI Agent With Bitcoin

According to a recent filing, two Chinese intelligence officials attempted to bribe a U.S. law enforcement agent. The names of the accused are Zheng Wang and Guochun He, also known as Dong He.

The duo aimed to obtain some files containing information about the criminal case of the globally recognized telecommunication company. Although the complaint didn’t state the company’s name, the description corresponds with the prosecution of Huawei.

The Ministry of State Security (MSS) operates like the FBI and CIA. This service consists of a provincial department, several municipal bureaus, and a central ministry. Their primary efforts focus on observing security threats and foreigners as per their rights and jurisdiction.

Although MSS focuses on tackling potential threats, there seems to be a breach in its operations. This is evident from a recent charge that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) placed on a couple of its officials.

Intensions Behind The Crime

The accused needed someone who was an asset in the United States government law enforcement agency. This individual was to find the confidential data that contained new charges against the company. 

The accused first created a relationship with the U.S. enforcement agent to carry out the operation successfully.

Their objective was pretty straightforward; get the information about trial evidence and witnesses in the case against Huawei. So, they paid the “double agent” known as GE-1 the sum of $61,000 in BTC, jewelry, and cash.

They believed the amount was good enough to get the information they needed from the Justice Department’s pending trial of the company.

This is not the first time such an incident has happened. For example, sometime in October 2021, one of the Chinese intelligence officers received a single-page document from a U.S agent. The document was tagged SECRET and had information on the United States’ plans to arrest a couple of Huawei principals based in China. To obtain the single-page document at the time, the officer offered the agent about $41,000.

More On The Case

According to Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, this is far beyond just an effort from the PRC officials. He added that the DOJ would not accept nation-state actors interfering with matters that concern criminal investigations and processes.

For this act, the accused, Wang and He, if convicted, will stay in prison for 20 years and 60 years, respectively. 

They believe the Chinese are responsible for the occurrence. Merrick Garland, Attorney General, revealed on Monday that they found and charged three Chinese intelligence agents in New Jersey. The victims were caught acting as United States illegal agents, representing a foreign government.

Also, in the New York Eastern District, they accused several individuals of working illegally for the Chinese government. These individuals were participating in a campaign of threats to force the return of a U.S resident to China.