The US unsealed charges claiming two Chinese intelligence officers tried to obstruct a criminal investigation of “a global telecommunications company” based in China.
(Bloomberg) — The US unsealed charges claiming two Chinese intelligence officers tried to obstruct a criminal investigation of “a global telecommunications company” based in China.
In charges unsealed Monday, the US claims the company, which it doesn’t name, was involved in a pending prosecution in Brooklyn, New York, disclosed in press releases in January 2019 and February 2020. The allegations are consistent with charges against Huawei Technologies Co.
The US claims Guochun He and Zheng Wang worked together to bribe a law enforcement employee to provide confidential information about witnesses, evidence and possible additional charges to be filed against the company. He paid the employee $61,000, according to the criminal complaint.
The alleged efforts to interfere in the prosecution escalated in October 2021 when the two told the law enforcement employee to give them details of prosecution strategy meetings with the US team in Brooklyn, the US claims. The employee passed to He a fake, single-page document labeled “SECRET,” discussing a potential plan to charge two current principals of the company residing in China. He paid $41,000 for the single page, according to the complaint.
The government alleges He and Wang first cultivated their relationship with the law enforcement employee, who is not named, in February 2007. The employee later began working against them as a double agent under supervision of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US says.
As recently as last month, He and Wang allegedly gave the employee $14,000 plus $600 worth of jewelry for sensitive information.
The case is US v. Guochun He and Zheng Wang, 22-mj-1137, US District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
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