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February 11th, 2008, 04:15 PM
U.S. official, others face spy charges
Taiwan military sales, space shuttle secrets were allegedly sought by China
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
updated 2:30 p.m. ET, Mon., Feb. 11, 2008
WASHINGTON - A Defense Department analyst and a former engineer for Boeing Co. were charged Monday in separate cases with selling military secrets to the Chinese government, the Justice Department said.
Additionally, two Chinese immigrants accused of working with the defense analyst were arrested after an FBI raid Monday morning on a New Orleans home where one of them lived.
The two cases — based in Alexandria, Va., and Los Angeles — have no connection, and investigators said it was merely a coincidence that charges would be brought against both on the same day.
In a statement, the Justice Department said that New Orleans residents Tai Shen Kuo, 58, and Yu Xin Kang, as well as Gregg William Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, Va., were arrested and charged.
"Foreign spying remains a serious threat in the post-Cold War world," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said in a statement. "The conspiracy charged in this case has all the elements of a classic espionage operation: a foreign government focused on accessing our military secrets; foreign operatives who effectively use stealth and guile to gain that access; and an American government official who is willing to betray both his oath of public office and the duty of loyalty we rightly demand from every American citizen."
Bergersen works for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which is the agency that sells weapons to foreign countries, the government said.
"Much of the information pertained to U.S. military sales to Taiwan," the Justice Department said in a statement.
Kuo was identified as a naturalized citizen, while Kang was said to be a Chinese national with residency status in the United States.
Former Boeing engineer arrested
The Justice Department also announced Monday that a former Boeing engineer, Dongfan "Greg" Chung, was arrested.
According to the charges against Chung, the Chinese government sent him "tasking" letters as early as 1979, directing him to collect data on the space shuttle and other military planes and rockets.
Investigators say Chung, who was born in China and became a U.S. citizen, responded by saying he wanted to contribute to the "motherland," the agency said.
The indictment alleges that he took and concealed Boeing trade secrets relating to the space shuttle, the C-17 military transport aircraft and the Delta IV rocket.
Over an 18-year span, Chung traveled to China many times to deliver lectures on the space shuttle and other programs, and he allegedly met with Chinese government officials there to discuss how to transfer U.S. data.
Chung, who has a security clearance, worked for contractor Rockwell International from 1973 until 1996, when the company’s defense and space firm was acquired by Boeing. He retired from Boeing in 2002 but returned the next year as a contractor. He ultimately left Boeing in 2006.
A U.S. official said some of the charges are related to the case of a Chinese-born engineer, Chi Mak, who was convicted last May of conspiring to export defense technology to China, Williams said.
FBI agents found CDs containing encoded information in luggage belonging to two of his relatives at the Los Angeles airport, Williams said. During his trial, Mak admitted copying sensitive documents from Power Paragon, a defense contractor.
At the time, investigators said the the information Mak was passing to China dealt with a highly secret plan to help make U.S. submarines undetectable.
NBC Chief Legal Correspondent Pete Williams, NBC News producer Robert Windrem and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23111683/
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MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2008 MSNBC.com
Taiwan military sales, space shuttle secrets were allegedly sought by China
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
updated 2:30 p.m. ET, Mon., Feb. 11, 2008
WASHINGTON - A Defense Department analyst and a former engineer for Boeing Co. were charged Monday in separate cases with selling military secrets to the Chinese government, the Justice Department said.
Additionally, two Chinese immigrants accused of working with the defense analyst were arrested after an FBI raid Monday morning on a New Orleans home where one of them lived.
The two cases — based in Alexandria, Va., and Los Angeles — have no connection, and investigators said it was merely a coincidence that charges would be brought against both on the same day.
In a statement, the Justice Department said that New Orleans residents Tai Shen Kuo, 58, and Yu Xin Kang, as well as Gregg William Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, Va., were arrested and charged.
"Foreign spying remains a serious threat in the post-Cold War world," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said in a statement. "The conspiracy charged in this case has all the elements of a classic espionage operation: a foreign government focused on accessing our military secrets; foreign operatives who effectively use stealth and guile to gain that access; and an American government official who is willing to betray both his oath of public office and the duty of loyalty we rightly demand from every American citizen."
Bergersen works for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which is the agency that sells weapons to foreign countries, the government said.
"Much of the information pertained to U.S. military sales to Taiwan," the Justice Department said in a statement.
Kuo was identified as a naturalized citizen, while Kang was said to be a Chinese national with residency status in the United States.
Former Boeing engineer arrested
The Justice Department also announced Monday that a former Boeing engineer, Dongfan "Greg" Chung, was arrested.
According to the charges against Chung, the Chinese government sent him "tasking" letters as early as 1979, directing him to collect data on the space shuttle and other military planes and rockets.
Investigators say Chung, who was born in China and became a U.S. citizen, responded by saying he wanted to contribute to the "motherland," the agency said.
The indictment alleges that he took and concealed Boeing trade secrets relating to the space shuttle, the C-17 military transport aircraft and the Delta IV rocket.
Over an 18-year span, Chung traveled to China many times to deliver lectures on the space shuttle and other programs, and he allegedly met with Chinese government officials there to discuss how to transfer U.S. data.
Chung, who has a security clearance, worked for contractor Rockwell International from 1973 until 1996, when the company’s defense and space firm was acquired by Boeing. He retired from Boeing in 2002 but returned the next year as a contractor. He ultimately left Boeing in 2006.
A U.S. official said some of the charges are related to the case of a Chinese-born engineer, Chi Mak, who was convicted last May of conspiring to export defense technology to China, Williams said.
FBI agents found CDs containing encoded information in luggage belonging to two of his relatives at the Los Angeles airport, Williams said. During his trial, Mak admitted copying sensitive documents from Power Paragon, a defense contractor.
At the time, investigators said the the information Mak was passing to China dealt with a highly secret plan to help make U.S. submarines undetectable.
NBC Chief Legal Correspondent Pete Williams, NBC News producer Robert Windrem and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23111683/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2008 MSNBC.com