Two Arrested and 13 Charged in Three Separate Cases for Alleged Participation in Malign Schemes in the United States on Behalf of the Government of the People’s Republic of China Charges Include Conspiracy to Forcibly Repatriate PRC Nationals, Attempted Obstruction of a Criminal Prosecution, and Conspiracy to Act as an Illegal Agent of a Foreign Country

[Gunnar Larson]

Sometimes, I think they got Bank.org, PBC confused with eCNY and xNY.io.

Let me be very clear, Red China is not our focus. It is Mikey Mouse in
Hong Kong.

Gunnar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 24, 2022
Two Arrested and 13 Charged in Three Separate Cases for Alleged
Participation in Malign Schemes in the United States on Behalf of the
Government of the People’s Republic of China
Charges Include Conspiracy to Forcibly Repatriate PRC Nationals, Attempted
Obstruction of a Criminal Prosecution, and Conspiracy to Act as an Illegal
Agent of a Foreign Country

In three separate cases in the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Eastern
District of New York and the District of New Jersey, the Justice Department
has charged 13 individuals, including members of the People’s Republic of
China (PRC) security and intelligence apparatus and their agents, for
alleged efforts to unlawfully exert influence in the United States for the
benefit of the government of the PRC.

In the Eastern District of New York, an eight-count indictment was unsealed
on Oct. 20 charging seven PRC nationals – two of whom were arrested on Oct.
20 in New York – with participating in a scheme to cause the forced
repatriation of a PRC national residing in the United States. The
defendants are accused of conducting surveillance of and engaging in a
campaign to harass and coerce a U.S. resident to return to the PRC as part
of an international extralegal repatriation effort known as “Operation Fox
Hunt.”

A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn
charging two People’s PRC intelligence officers with attempting to obstruct
a criminal prosecution in the Eastern District of New York. The defendants
remain at large.

In the District of New Jersey, an indictment was unsealed today charging
four Chinese nationals, including three Ministry of State Security (MSS)
intelligence officers, in connection with a long-running intelligence
campaign targeting individuals in the United States to act as agents of the
PRC.

“As these cases demonstrate, the government of China sought to interfere
with the rights and freedoms of individuals in the United States and to
undermine our judicial system that protects those rights. They did not
succeed,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice
Department will not tolerate attempts by any foreign power to undermine the
Rule of Law upon which our democracy is based. We will continue to fiercely
protect the rights guaranteed to everyone in our country. And we will
defend the integrity of our institutions.”

“The actions announced today take place against a backdrop of malign
activity from the government of the People’s Republic of China that
includes espionage, attempts to disrupt our justice system, harassment of
individuals, and ongoing efforts to steal sensitive U.S. technology,” said
Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “The men and women of the
Department of Justice will continue to defend the United States, our
institutions, and our people from foreign threats that violate the law — no
matter what form they take.”

“These indictments of PRC intelligence officers and government officials –
for trying to obstruct a U.S. trial of a Chinese company, masquerading as
university professors to steal sensitive information, and trying to
strong-arm a victim into returning to China – again expose the PRC’s
outrageous behavior within our own borders,” said FBI Director Christopher
Wray. “The FBI, working with our partners and allies, will continue to
throw the full weight of our counterintelligence and law enforcement
authorities into stopping the Chinese government’s crimes against our
businesses, universities, and Chinese-American communities.”

“These cases highlight the threat the PRC government poses to our
institutions and the rights of people in the United States,” said Assistant
Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National
Security Division. “We will not tolerate these brazen operations: the
harassment and attempted repatriation by force of individuals living in the
U.S.; the effort to corrupt our judicial system; and the attempt to recruit
agents for the PRC under the cover of a front academic organization.
Countering such threats is a cornerstone of the mission of the National
Security Division.”

*United States v. Quanzhong An, et al., **Eastern District of New York*

An eight-count indictment
<https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/press-release/file/1545641/download> was
unsealed on Oct. 20 in Brooklyn charging a total of seven nationals of the
PRC – Quanzhong An, 55, of Roslyn, New York; Guangyang An, 34, of Roslyn,
New York; Tian Peng, 38, of the PRC; Chenghua Chen of the PRC; Chunde Ming
of the PRC; Xuexin Hou, 52, of the PRC; and Weidong Yuan, 55, of the PRC –
with participating in a scheme to cause the forced repatriation of a PRC
national residing in the United States. The lead defendant, Quanzhong An,
allegedly acted at the direction and under the control of various officials
with the PRC’s government’s Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection
(Provincial Commission) – including Peng, Chen, Ming, and Hou – to conduct
surveillance of and engage in a campaign to harass and coerce a U.S.
resident to return to the PRC as part of an international extralegal
repatriation effort known as “Operation Fox Hunt.”

Quanzhong An and Guangyang An were arrested on Thursday and were arraigned
that afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr. The
remaining defendants remain at large.

“As alleged, the defendants engaged in a unilateral and uncoordinated law
enforcement action on U.S. soil on behalf of the government of the People’s
Republic of China, in an effort to cause the forced repatriation of a U.S.
resident to China,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District
of New York. “The United States will firmly counter such outrageous
violations of national sovereignty and prosecute individuals who act as
illegal agents of foreign states.”

As alleged in the indictment, the defendants participated in an
international campaign to threaten and intimidate John Doe-1, a resident of
United States, and his family to force John Doe-1 to return to the PRC.
These efforts were part of “Operation Fox Hunt,” an initiative by the PRC’s
Ministry of Public Security to locate and repatriate alleged fugitives who
flee to foreign countries, including the United States. The PRC government
has targeted these alleged fugitives and their families to compel
cooperation with the PRC government and self-repatriation to the PRC. The
PRC government has taken such law enforcement actions on U.S. soil in a
unilateral manner without approval, of or coordination with the U.S.
government.

Quanzhong An, who is a businessman operating in Queens, New York, and the
majority shareholder of a hotel in Flushing, acted as the primary
U.S.-based liaison for the Provincial Commission’s targeting of John Doe-1
and his family members, including his son, John Doe-2, both in the United
States and in the PRC. As part of the scheme, various PRC-based
conspirators forced a relative in the PRC (John Doe-3) to travel from the
PRC to the United States in September 2018 to meet with John Doe-2 and
convey threats that were intended to coerce John Doe-1’s return to the PRC.
Yuan – John Doe-3’s superior at the PRC’s State Administration of Taxation
– escorted John Doe-3 from the PRC to the United States, under the guise of
a visit with a tour group.

PRC-based defendants and coconspirators also engaged in a pattern of
harassment targeting John Doe-1’s family members. In November 2017, Hou
wrote John Doe-2 warning him that “coming back and turning yourself in is
the only way out.” Hou further threatened that “avoidance and wishful
thinking will only result in severe legal punishments.” The PRC government
also harassed John Doe-1 and John Doe-2 through the filing of a lawsuit in
New York State court, alleging that John Doe-1 had stolen funds from his
former PRC based employer and that John Doe-2 had knowledge of and
benefitted from his father’s scheme.

In a series of recorded meetings in 2020, 2021, and 2022, Quanzhong An
repeatedly met with John Doe-2 and attempted to persuade John Doe-2 to
cause the return of John Doe-1 to the PRC. In these meetings, Quanzhong An
acknowledged that he is a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese
People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which enforces the
rules and regulations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) abroad. At
various times, he attributed his instructions to Chen, Ming, and Peng and
acknowledged that the Fox Hunt operation was motivated by the PRC
government’s need to “save their faces” and repatriate as many fugitives as
possible.

Quanzhong An admitted that he was acting as an agent of the Provincial
Commission to increase his standing in the PRC. During his meetings with
John Doe-2, Quanzhong An repeatedly transmitted threats on behalf of the
PRC government. If John Doe-1 did not return, the PRC government would
“keep pestering you, [and] make your daily life uncomfortable,” in addition
to actions to “target and monitor” John Doe-1’s relatives in the PRC. On
another occasion, he stated that “they will definitely find new ways to
bother you” and “it is definitely true that all of your relatives will be
involved.”

As set forth in the detention memorandum, Quanzhong An met with John Doe-2
again on Sept. 29, 2022. During this meeting, Quanzhong An pressed for John
Doe-1 to execute an agreement to return to the PRC in advance of the CCP’s
20th National Congress, which began on Oct. 16, 2022. As part of such
agreement, Quanzhong An sought a written confession from John Doe-1, which
would be submitted directly to the PRC government.

The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of acting as
agents of the PRC, Quanzhong An faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in
prison. The money laundering conspiracy charge against Quanzhong An and
Guangyang An carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The
remaining charges, including conspiring to act as agents of the PRC and
conspiring to commit interstate and international stalking, carry a maximum
sentence of five years in prison.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander A.
Solomon, Sara K. Winik, and Antoinette N. Rangel and Trial Attorney Scott
A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and
Export Control Section. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Morris of the
Office’s Asset Recovery Section is handling forfeiture matters.

*United States v. Dong He, et al., **Eastern District of New York*

A criminal complaint
<https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1546421/download> was
unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging two People’s Republic
of China (PRC) intelligence officers with attempting to obstruct a criminal
prosecution in the Eastern District of New York. The defendants remain at
large.

According to court documents, Dong He, aka Guochun He and aka Jacky He, and
Zheng Wang, aka Zen Wang, allegedly orchestrated a scheme to steal files
and other information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern
District of New York related to the ongoing federal criminal investigation
and prosecution of a global telecommunications company (Company-1) based in
the PRC, including by paying a $41,000 Bitcoin bribe to a U.S. government
employee who the defendants believed had been recruited to work for the
PRC, but who in fact was a double agent working on behalf of the FBI.

“Today’s complaint underscores the unrelenting efforts of the PRC
government to undermine the rule of law,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace
for the Eastern District of New York. “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.”

Dong He and Zheng Wang are charged with attempting to obstruct a criminal
prosecution of Company-1 in federal district court in the Eastern District
of New York. Defendant He also is charged with money laundering based upon
a bribe payment of $41,000 in Bitcoin made in furtherance of the scheme.

According to the complaint, the defendants are PRC intelligence officers
conducting foreign intelligence operations targeting the United States, on
behalf of the PRC government and for the benefit of Company-1. Starting in
2019, they directed an employee at a U.S. government law enforcement agency
(GE-1), whom they believed they had recruited as an asset, to steal
confidential information about the criminal prosecution of Company-1 in
order to interfere with that prosecution. In actuality, GE-1 was working as
a double agent on behalf of the FBI.

In September 2021, the defendants tasked GE-1 with reporting about meetings
that GE-1 was purportedly having with prosecutors in Brooklyn at the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. In written
communications, the defendants said they were particularly interested in
knowing which Company-1 employees had been interviewed by the government
and in obtaining a description of the prosecutors’ evidence, witness list
and trial strategy.

In October 2021, GE-1 used an encrypted messaging program to send the
defendants a single page from a purported internal strategy memorandum from
the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York regarding
the Company-1 case. The document appeared to be classified as “SECRET” and
to discuss a plan to charge and arrest two current Company-1 employees
living in the PRC. Dong He responded that the document was “exactly what I
am waiting for” and that he was “waiting for the feedback from some guys”
about whether there were any questions about the document. Dong He then
paid GE-1 approximately $41,000 in Bitcoin for stealing that document.

GE-1 also asked the defendants for any feedback about the “SECRET”
document. In November 2021, Dong He stated that “[Company-1] didn’t give me
specifically feedback now yet, but they are obviously interested in it, and
my boss and they need further information.” Dong He further told GE-1 that
“[Company-1] obviously will be interested” in GE-1 stealing another part of
the strategy memorandum, and “maybe will offer more” for that information.
In December 2021, in response to a further request by GE-1 for feedback or
guidance from Company-1 about “what they want me to get,” Dong He explained
that “they didn’t give me any positive feedback yet and demanded to
communicate with you directly.” Dong He said that he refused Company-1’s
request to speak directly to GE-1 because “it’s too dangerous.”

The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendants are
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Dong He
faces up to 40 years of imprisonment and Wang faces up to 20 years of
imprisonment.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander A.
Solomon and Meredith A. Arfa and Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the
National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

*United States v. Wang Lin et al., **District of New Jersey*

A federal indictment
<https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1546466/download> was
unsealed today charging four Chinese nationals, including three Ministry of
State Security (MSS) intelligence officers, in connection with a
long-running intelligence campaign targeting individuals in the United
States to act as agents of the PRC.

As alleged in the indictment, from at least 2008 to 2018, Wang Lin, 59; Bi
Hongwei, age unknown; Dong Ting, aka Chelsea Dong, 40; Wang Qiang, 55, and
others engaged in a wide-ranging and systematic effort to target and
recruit individuals to act on behalf of the PRC in the United States with
requests to provide information, materials, equipment, and assistance to
the Chinese government in ways that would further China’s intelligence
objectives. These recruitment efforts included targeting professors at
universities, a former federal law enforcement and state homeland security
official, and others to act on behalf of, and as agents of, the Chinese
government.

As part of the conspiracy, MSS intelligence officers Wang Lin, Dong Ting,
and others used a purported academic institute at Ocean University of China
– referred to as the Institute for International Studies (IIS) – as cover
for their clandestine intelligence activities. Acting under cover as the
purported director of the IIS, Wang Lin, in coordination with other MSS
operatives operating under the guise of academics at the IIS, targeted
professors at American universities and others in the United States with
access to sensitive information and equipment.

According to the indictment unsealed today, MSS intelligence officers Wang
Lin, Bi, Dong, and others, acting for and on behalf of the MSS and the
Chinese government, systematically targeted United States persons,
including but not limited to a coconspirator who was a resident of the
state of New Jersey and a second individual who was a former federal law
enforcement officer and state homeland security official and a professor at
an American university.

Among other things, the conspiracy targeted the second individual by
inviting the individual in 2008 and 2018 on all-expenses-paid trips to
China sponsored by the IIS. During those trips, Wang Lin, Dong, and others
sought to recruit this individual as a human source, requesting that the
individual provide sensitive fingerprint technology, information, and
assistance with stopping planned protests along the 2008 Olympic Games
torch route in the United States, which the conspirators expressed would be
“embarrassing” to China. The individual also was requested to sign a
contract for purported consulting services with a Chinese company whose
“core value” was the “national interest and national security” of China,
with an objective to “protect the national interest and Chinese
enterprises’ overseas interest[s]” and to “build sources and channels to
collect security information.” Recognizing Wang Lin, Dong, and others as
Chinese intelligence officers, the individual refused these requests and
reported them to law enforcement.

The conspiracy also targeted the coconspirator in New Jersey by tasking the
coconspirator to take specific action in the United States in furtherance
of the MSS’ intelligence objective. Wang Qiang coordinated a meeting in
2016 between the coconspirator, Wang Lin, and Bi Hongwei in the Bahamas, at
which time MSS intelligence officers Wang Lin and Bi directed the
coconspirator to obtain U.S. currency and provide it to a designated
individual in New Jersey. The coconspirator returned to New Jersey and did
as Wang Lin and BI instructed. Wang Qiang then visited the coconspirator in
New Jersey, at which time Wang Qiang and the coconspirator discussed in
detail their and others’ activities taken on behalf of the Chinese
government in the United States.

Lin, Bi, Dong and Qiang, all are nationals and residents of the People’s
Republic of China. They each are charged in the indictment with conspiracy
to act in the United States as agents of a foreign government, namely, the
People’s Republic of China, without prior notification to the Attorney
General of the United States, as required by law, and to direct such
unlawful action by others in the United States. The conspiracy charge
carries a statutory maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a
maximum fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the
direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, with the
investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Brendan Day,
Attorney in Charge of the Trenton Branch Office, and Joyce M. Malliet,
Chief of the Office’s National Security Unit.

The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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