Tag: espionage

Mystery as top Swedish diplomat is found dead after being questioned over spy allegations

A top Swedish diplomat has been found dead after being arrested on suspicion of espionage.

Sweden‘s SAPO security service had detained the man on Sunday and kept him for questioning until Wednesday, when he was released, although he remained subject to investigation, the country’s prosecution service said.

The crimes were reportedly committed between May 1 and May 11 this month. 

They would not, however, confirm whether the diplomat who died was the same man they arrested. 

‘We have seen this information that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that an employee has died,’ SAPO spokesperson Johan Wikström said.

‘We cannot confirm that this is the person who was previously arrested and suspected of espionage.’

His lawyer Anton Strand paid tribute to his client but declined to comment on the cause of the man’s death.

‘I cannot go into any detail about the investigation. There has been a gag order regarding the interrogations that have been held,’ he added. 

However, he noted that the diplomat went to the hospital as soon as he was released, and subsequently filed a police report against the force for misconduct and assault.

Strand vowed to ‘closely follow’ the report on the wishes of the diplomat’s relatives. 

Public broadcaster SVT has reported that the diplomat had served at several Swedish embassies and that SAPO was investigating a potential connection to the resignation of the government’s national security adviser last week. 

Tobias Thyberg resigned hours after being unveiled in his role due to ‘images of a sensitive nature’, according to Swedish media.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard told Swedish outlet Aftonbladet: ‘I have been reached by the sad news that an employee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has passed away. 

‘My thoughts are with the employee’s family, friends and colleagues.’ 

Police spokesman Daniel Wikdahl said his force had opened a probe into the man’s death but did ‘not suspect any crime’.

‘We do not need to suspect any crime to open an investigation, we do that when someone dies outside the hospital,’ he added. 

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Rogue communication devices found in Chinese solar power inverters

U.S. energy officials are reassessing the risk posed by Chinese-made devices that play a critical role in renewable energy infrastructure after unexplained communication equipment was found inside some of them, two people familiar with the matter said.

Power inverters, which are predominantly produced in China, are used throughout the world to connect solar panels and wind turbines to electricity grids. They are also found in batteries, heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers.

While inverters are built to allow remote access for updates and maintenance, the utility companies that use them typically install firewalls to prevent direct communication back to China.

However, rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues, the two people said.

Over the past nine months, undocumented communication devices, including cellular radios, have also been found in some batteries from multiple Chinese suppliers, one of them said.

Reuters was unable to determine how many solar power inverters and batteries they have looked at.

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Students uncover Chinese espionage at Stanford University

Students at Stanford University have allegedly uncovered a pattern of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempting to gain sensitive information about American research.

CCP agents reportedly impersonate students at the university to gain trust from students and staff and steal information as part of a “nontraditional collection effort,” while others are already connected with Chinese nationals studying in the U.S., according to The Stanford Review. The report states that several Chinese students studying at Stanford are currently acting as spies for the CCP.

Those affiliated with the CCP attempt to gain access to sensitive STEM research, particularly AI, as well as gather intel into U.S. research on China, the Review reported.

In one instance, a Chinese agent impersonated a student at the university and attempted to pressure a Stanford student, who was involved in “sensitive research on China,” into flying to Beijing, the Review found. The man advised the student to limit her trip to between 24 to 144 hours “to avoid visa scrutiny by authorities” and tried to keep communications solely on a CCP-monitored app.

After the student tipped off authorities, it was revealed the man had apparently been impersonating a Stanford student for years and had targeted multiple students, mainly women focused on China-related research, the Review said.

One “China expert” who spoke to the Stanford Review claimed that several of the university’s Chinese students are actively reporting information back to the CCP. More than 1,000 Chinese nationals study at Stanford.

“Many Chinese [nationals] have handlers; they [CCP] want to know everything that’s going on at Stanford,” one unnamed Chinese national attending Stanford told the Review. “This is a very normal thing. They just relay the information they have.”

In 2020, Stanford student researcher and Chinese national Chen Song was indicted for attempting to conceal her affiliation with the Chinese military. During her time in the U.S., the student allegedly sent multiple updates on her research in medical science to Chinese government officials.

Despite her crime carrying the penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, Song’s charges were dropped under the Biden administration over technicalities stemming from a visa application question.

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Meet Russia’s real-life ‘Americans’ — spies hiding in plain sight

Ann Foley, a part-time real estate agent, lived a middle-class, all-American lifestyle with her husband, Don, and their two sons, in Cambridge, Mass., home of many of America’s most prestigious universities and think tanks.

But the likeable, friendly couple had a very secret life.

Ann was, in fact, Elena Vavilova, a deep-cover spy trained by the secret Russian intelligence agency, the notorious KGB. Don, her seemingly pleasant husband, was actually Andrei Bezrukov, also a KGB agent.

In June 2010, the couple, both illegals in the US, was arrested by the FBI.

In New York City, meanwhile, Anna Chapman also worked in real estate, but lived a far different lifestyle than Ann Foley. Voluptuous and flame-haired, Chapman had a reputation for flirting with her potential property  clients — the Big Apple’s men of power and wealth.

But the two women, Foley and Chapman, did have one commonality.

Chapman, too, was a secret Russian agent here to spy on America.

In 2010, she was arrested with nine other Russian spies, with authorities breaking up one of the largest intelligence networks in the US since the end of the Cold War.

It took decades for the FBI to unravel Russia’s most secret spy program. Now author Shaun Walker, in “The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West” (Knopf), has written a riveting and revelatory history of the Soviet Union’s spy program that asks the reader — do you really know who your neighbors are?

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U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst Sentenced to 7 Years for Leaking Top-Secret Military Documents to Communist China

25-year-old former Army intelligence analyst Korbein Schultz was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for conspiring to hand over America’s most closely guarded military secrets to a hostile foreign power: Communist China.

The disgraced soldier from Wills Point, Texas, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to transmitting sensitive defense intelligence, unlawfully exporting classified material, and accepting bribes — all in the service of a foreign adversary.

“This defendant swore an oath to defend the United States — instead, he betrayed it for a payout and put America’s military and service members at risk,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a statement.

She continued, “The Justice Department remains vigilant against China’s efforts to target our military and will ensure that those who leak military secrets spend years behind bars.”

From May 2022 until his arrest in March 2024, Schultz conspired with an individual from Hong Kong, whom he believed to be affiliated with the Chinese government — referred to in court filings as Conspirator A.

That individual masqueraded as a geopolitical analyst on a freelance website but quickly turned the relationship into an espionage pipeline.

For just $42,000, Schultz sold out American troops, revealing tactical and technical data, training documents, and sensitive material relating to U.S. missile defense and aerial combat capabilities.

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Chinese Spies Bugging Park Benches, Pubs Near UK Gov’t Offices: Report

Chinese spies have planted surveillance throughout central London, including on park benches and pubs near Westminster, to eavesdrop on British political figures, a report has claimed.

Government sources have reportedly informed the Mail on Sunday that Chinese bugging devices have been discovered in popular areas frequented by civil servants and government researchers.

Such areas allegedly include the popular Red Lion pub, situated just steps away from the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street. A government source told the paper that the historic pub, which stands on the grounds of a 15th-century medieval tavern, is “full of Chinese agents”.

Other targets of Beijing’s dragnet reportedly ranged from five-star hotels to even benches in St James’s Park, located between Buckingham Palace and Downing Street, and close to major government departments, such as the Foreign Office and the Treasury.

A government source told the paper: “We have been told the Chinese literally have the park bugged, with devices in the bushes and under park benches.”

“Commons researchers are regarded by the Chinese, and other spies including the Russians and Iranians, as the soft underbelly of Whitehall,” said one source.

It is said to be thought that Communist China is particularly interested in lower-level civil servants, researchers and junior staffers to parliamentarians, who Beijing sees as the “soft underbelly” of the UK state. Many such staffers often frequent the Red Lion pub or have lunch in St James Park.

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Former FAA contractor pleads guilty to spying for Iran, sharing private info on US airports, energy industry

A naturalized U.S. citizen living in Great Falls, Virginia, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to working with Iranian government and intelligence officials on their behalf in the U.S. as a contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) between 2017 and 2024.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said 42-year-old Abouzar Rahmati pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to act and acting as an agent of the Iranian government in the U.S. without prior notification to the Attorney General.

Rahmati previously was an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) 1st Lt., a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, from June 2009 to May 2010. The IRGC is a designated terrorist group by the U.S. government.

Court documents show that from at least December 2017 through June 2024, Rahmati worked with Iranian intelligence operatives and government officials on their behalf in the U.S.

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Treason: Top Biden Officials Held Secret Talks with Chinese About Their Spy Balloon Traversing the US Before the Public Spotted It in the Sky – They Were Worried About Optics

In January 2022, the Biden administration knew about the Chinese spy balloon traversing across the continental United States, from Alaska to the Carolinas, but sought to conceal this from the American public.

A newspaper photographer first spotted the balloon over Montana.

The Chinese spy balloon first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January.

Joe Biden and Mark Milley knew the surveillance balloon was over the US, yet Biden chose to stand down.

The balloon soared over nuclear silos and military installations across the US with Joe Biden’s full approval.

In fact the Chinese spy balloon was using US parts and US internet as it crossed the US to spy on military installations and nuclear silos.

The balloon was shot down over the Atlantic just off the coast of the Carolinas.

According to the Pentagon, the spy balloon carried explosives to self-detonate, was 200 feet tall, and weighed thousands of pounds.

The Administration knew about the spy balloon but sought to conceal it from the American public.

The Biden regime did not even notify the Gang of Eight Congressional leaders about the security breach by the Communist Chinese.

Retired General Mark Milley knew about the Chinese balloon but followed the lead of the Biden regime and kept it from the public.

That was not the only lie told by Mark Milley.

General Milley also knew the spy balloon was collecting data as it flew over the continental US but kept this from the American public.

Now, there is evidence that Biden officials, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken, were holding private talks with the Chinese before the American public spotted the spy balloon in the sky.

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NYPD sergeant is suspended over ‘spying for the Chinese’

An NYPD sergeant in the detective bureau is under investigation by the FBI for allegedly spying for the Chinese government, sources exclusively tell DailyMail.com.

Zhu Jiang, who serves in a unit that investigates healthcare fraud and has access to highly sensitive information, has been suspended without pay from the department, a police spokesman confirmed.

Jiang, who is Asian, serves out of the Jacob K. Javitz Building at 26 Federal Plaza, which houses the FBI’s New York field office and is a couple blocks away from police headquarters. 

He joined the NYPD in 2013 and has previously served in the organized crime investigative division and in various detective squads in Brooklyn, records show. He earned $169,000 last year.

DailyMail.com’s attempts to reach Jiang were not successful.

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UK Judges Rule That Docs Revealing Close Ties Between Disgraced Prince Andrew and Alleged Chinese Spy Yang Tengbo Must Be Released in Two Weeks

Another week, another damaging report brought Prince Andrew’s alleged corruption to the forefront of British public opinion.

A London tribunal has ruled that private documents of the correspondence between Andrew’s top adviser and an alleged Chinese spy must be made public in a fortnight.

Dominic Hampshire, an aide and close friend of the Duke, had to submit a witness statement after Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo was expelled and banned from the UK.

The Telegraph reported:

“Mr. Yang was forced to leave the country on national security grounds in March 2023 and unsuccessfully challenged the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission last year. UK authorities have alleged that he formed an ‘unusual degree of trust’ with the Duke and developed relationships with politicians to be ‘leveraged’ by China.”

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