- Guochun He and Zheng Wang planned to steal sensitive documents.
- They planned to bribe a United States Government employee with $61,000 in Bitcoin.
Two Chinese intelligence operatives have been charged with obstructing justice by the United States Department of Justice. The charges stem from an alleged effort to bribe a United States Government employee with $61,000 in Bitcoin to steal information linked to an investigation into Chinese telecom company Huawei.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland remarked at a news conference announcing the arrest of the two agents, “The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by any foreign power to undermine the rule of law upon which our democracy is based.”
Corporation in Question: Huawei
According to the Department of Justice, in 2019 the operation started when two intelligence operatives contacted a government employee who was a double agent working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Moreover, according to the notification made by the United States Department of Justice, Guochun He and Zheng Wang planned to steal sensitive documents from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
According to the lawsuit, the two detectives were searching for evidence in a federal investigation and prosecution of a Chinese telecommunications giant identified only as Company-1. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal verified that the corporation in question was Huawei.
Together with a separate lawsuit outlining a bigger sting operation, the Department of Justice has brought charges against a total of thirteen people.
The DOJ claims in its lawsuit that in September 2022, Guochun He promised the government official more Bitcoin payments in exchange for new information. According to the report, the operators reportedly paid the employee $20,000 in Bitcoin in the month of October.
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