Tag: espionage

Former Federal Reserve Adviser Arrested For Passing Trade Secrets To China

John Harold Rogers, 63, of Vienna, Virginia, a former Senior Adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (FRB), was arrested today on charges that he conspired to steal Federal Reserve trade secrets for the benefit of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

            In furtherance of the conspiracy, Rogers allegedly made false statements to the Federal Reserve Board Office of Inspector General, and those false statements had a material impact on its investigation.

            The indictment, unsealed today, was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr.,  FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the Washington Field Office, and John T. Perez, Special Agent in Charge, Headquarters Operations, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (FRB-CFPB OIG).

            “President Trump tasks us with protecting our fellow Americans from all enemies, foreign and domestic. As alleged in the indictment, this defendant leveraged his position within the Federal Reserve to pass sensitive financial information to the Chinese government, a designated foreign adversary,” said U.S. Attorney Martin. “Let this indictment serve as a warning to all who seek to betray or exploit the United States: law enforcement will find you and hold you accountable.”

            “The Chinese Communist Party has expanded its economic espionage campaign to target U.S. government financial policies and trade secrets in an effort to undermine the U.S. and become the sole superpower,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg. “Today’s indictment represents the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protect U.S. national security interests and U.S. jobs and to bring to justice those who are willing to betray their country for personal gain.”

            “This indictment sends a clear message that those who deliberately misuse sensitive Federal Reserve information for their own personal gain and lie about it to investigators will be held accountable for their actions,” said John T. Perez, Special Agent in Charge of Headquarters Operations FRB-CFPB OIG.

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A Republic of Spies

In 2021, to his credit, President Joe Biden warned the American public against the dangers of zero-click spyware manufactured by an Israeli corporation. Zero-click is unwanted software that can expose the entire contents of one’s mobile or desktop device to prying eyes without tricking one into clicking on to a link. Biden banned its importation and use in the United States.

Last week, as an inducement to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the Israel/Hamas ceasefire agreement, President Donald Trump secretly agreed to lift the embargo on zero-click.

Here is the backstory.

Though America has employed spies since the Revolutionary War, until the modern era, spying was largely limited to wartime. That changed when America became a surveillance state in 1947 with the public establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency and the secret creation of its counterparts.

The CIA’s stated public task at its inception was to spy on the Soviet Union and its satellite countries so that American officials could prepare for any adverse actions by them. This was the time of the Red Scare, in which both Republicans and Democrats fostered the Orwellian belief that America needed a foreign adversary.

We had just helped the Russians defeat Germany in World War II, and our Russian ally – which was bankrupt and had just lost 27 million troops and civilians – suddenly became so strong it needed to be kept in check. The opening salvo in this absurd argument was fired by President Harry Truman in August 1945 when he used nuclear bombs intentionally to target civilians of an already defeated Japan. One of his targets was a Roman Catholic cathedral.

But his real target – so to speak – was his new friend, Joe Stalin.

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Suspected Chinese Spy Is Fiancé of California Councilwoman

A California councilwoman is the fiancée of a man accused of peddling political influence on behalf of the Chinese regime, court records show.

The man, Mike Sun, has allegedly worked with a recently sentenced Chinese agent to advance the Chinese regime’s political interests in Los Angeles. Court documents suggest the two have worked closely for years to align U.S. policy interests with Beijing on sensitive issues, with the Chinese agent Chen Jun telling Chinese officials that Sun—and the councilwoman—were part of a “basic team dedicated for us.”

Sun is also known as Sun Yaoning. Court records show that he is a former Chinese army member. He was the campaign manager for Eileen Wang in 2022, the year she won the city council seat for Arcadia in Los Angeles County with nearly two-thirds of the vote, prosecutors said.

Helping Wang win the midterm election, Sun said in a draft report to Chinese officials, was his proudest achievement as someone who “persist[s] in resisting any hostile forces that undermine the friendship of US-China relations, and Chinese secessionist forces,” according to federal prosecutors.

A review of the court records, public information, and business filings reveals the personal connections between Wang and Sun, who have engaged in several ventures together, including a U.S.-based media group, business entities, and multiple pro-Beijing organizations.

One of them is the American Southwest Chamber of Commerce, a Los Angeles nonprofit Wang founded in 2018 that purports to “promote communication of American southwest people of China,” according to business filings.

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It Turns Out Fang Fang Wasn’t the Only Chi Com Spy in California Politics

California is fertile ground for what the Chinese Communist Party spies call “elite capture” of American politicians. It didn’t begin or end with California Congressman Eric Swalwell’s Fang Fang, either, not by a long shot. 

There’s Joe and Hunter Biden’s cozy relationship and payoffs from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-connected corporations; California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s 20-year-long relationship with her aide and chauffeur, the Chinese spy; California Congressman Eric Swalwell’s paramour and political advisor Fang Fang; a former anti-Second Amendment California state senator who brokered guns to the underworld; and now this. 

Now, a campaign manager for a 2022 California city council candidate is in the FBI crosshairs. 

The FBI reported that an unnamed city council member in an undesignated city won office in 2022 with the help of a Chinese spy. Reading the entrails left behind in the somewhat cryptic 24-page indictment, the effort shows the spying happened in San Bernardino’s Chino Hills —since the spy claimed to have lived with the council member. 

The unidentified Chino Hills 2022 City Council candidate, who was an apparent pawn of the Chi-Coms whether he knew it or not, was not indicted. The FBI says the investigation continues.

The council member’s campaign manager, who claimed to live at the candidate’s home, is Mr. Yaoning “Mike” Sun. Sun worked with his PRC handler in L.A., John Chen, and a “Big Boss” in the PRC and acted as unregistered foreign agents in the U.S. 

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PRC Espionage: Are Chinese Americans Their Top Recruitment Targets?

On November 1, 2018 then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the launch of the “China Initiative” – a whole-of-government effort ostensibly designed to thwart espionage and technology theft by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Chinese American groups and activists immediately denounced the program as racially biased and its investigations improperly predicated, and in 2021 two studies provided them with ample proof that their allegations were correct.

The first was a study showing how rare it was for Chinese Americans to actually engage in espionage on behalf of the PRC. The second study chronicled the extremely high number of “China Initiative” cases that resulted in acquittals or dismissed cases. In late February 2022, the Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen announced the Department was ending the program, with Olsen telling a George Mason University crowd that he had “concluded that this initiative was not the right approach” to combatting PRC espionage and technology theft.

Three months later, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) issued a report that dealt in part with the question of whether or not PRC intelligence organizations prioritized the recruitment of Chinese Americans for spying or tech theft. That report, which was mandated by Congress, made a categorical statement about PRC intelligence asset targeting and recruitment strategy:

“It is the IC’s assessment that while the PRC promotes the false narrative that individuals of Chinese descent owe some allegiance to the PRC, neither race nor ethnicity is the primary criterion utilized by the PRC’s intelligence services in their recruitment of intelligence assets.”

But is this true? A recent trove of documents released to the Cato Institute via a Freedom of Information Act request leaves the question of whether the PRC targets Chinese Americans as potential agents.

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Mossad behind Italian ‘blackmail’ spying scandal

An Italian private intelligence firm that allegedly hacked government databases to collect information on thousands of prominent people, including politicians, entrepreneurs, and celebrities, is accused of working for Israeli intelligence and the Vatican, media reported on 30 October.

Police wiretaps leaked to Italian media show that Equalize, which employs former members of Italian intelligence, is accused of breaching the servers of government ministries and the police between 2019 and 2024 to collect information.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Equalize allegedly collected numerous classified files that contain sensitive information about prominent Italians to sell to clients – including major companies and law firms seeking information to gain an advantage over competitors, win court cases, or for blackmail and extortion.

Prime Minister Meloni described the alleged scheme as “unacceptable” and “a threat to democracy.”

At least four people are currently under arrest, while dozens more are under investigation. Fearing that Equalize may have obtained state secrets, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto ordered an urgent parliamentary investigation. 

Corsetto added that the stolen personal information was just the “tip of the iceberg.”

Politico reported that according to the leaked wiretaps, members of the hacking network met with two Israeli agents at the firm’s office in Milan in February 2023 to discuss a deal worth 1 million euros.

“The job was a cyber operation against Russian targets, including President Vladimir Putin’s unidentified ‘right-hand man,’ and unearthing the financial trail leading from the bank accounts of wealthy figures to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. The information was then supposed to be passed on to the Vatican,” Politico wrote.

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Suspected Iranian Spy Ariane Tabatabai Receives a Pentagon Promotion

Ariane Tabatabai, a Pentagon official whose troubling links to the Iranian regime were revealed more than a year ago and who is reportedly suspected of being behind the leak of top secret US intelligence documents related to Israel, is no longer chief of staff for Assistant Secretary of Defense Christopher Maier.

Politico reports that Tabatabai has been promoted to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Education and Training, a position she’s (also) completely unqualified for:

ARIANE TABATABAI is now the deputy assistant secretary of defense for force education and training within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a position she was offered last month. She was previously chief of staff for assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict.

Note that Politico pointedly asserts that Tabatabai was offered the position last month, likely in an attempt to make people believe that this move wasn’t in response to the document leak.

In her position as chief of staff to Maier, Tabatabai had access to extremely sensitive intelligence assessments because of what Maier’s role entails:

ASD(SO/LIC) oversees and advocates for Special Operations and Irregular Warfare throughout the Department of Defense to ensure these capabilities are resourced, ready, and properly employed in accordance with the National Defense Strategy. In this role, the ASD:

  • Exercises authority, direction, and control of all special operations peculiar issues relating to the organization, training, and equipping of special operations forces
  • Is the Principal Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict Official within the senior management of DoD
  • Sits in the chain-of-command above USSOCOM for special operations-peculiar administrative matters; provides civilian oversight of the SOF enterprise.
  • Advises, Assists, and Supports the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on Special Operations and Irregular Warfare policy matters.

A defense official with knowledge of the investigation told RedState on Saturday evening that investigators believe that the top secret documents related to Israel’s activity/preparations to strike Iran that were leaked to an Iranian-linked Telegram channel were leaked by Tabatabai, and Sky News Arabic reported the same on Monday. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters Wednesday, though, that, “There’s no OSD official being named as a part of this investigation.”

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FIVE CHINESE U of M Grads Caught Spying On America’s Largest National Guard Base In MI—Only Short Distance From Controversial Proposed Chinese Battery Plant Supported By Dem Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Five recent Chinese graduates of the University of Michigan have been charged with conspiracy, making false statements to investigators, and destroying records during the federal investigation. They were caught with cameras late at night on the base at Camp Grayling, America’s largest US National Guard training facility in Grayling, MI.

The students claimed to be there to observe a meteor shower. Their presence coincided with military exercises involving Taiwanese forces, which led authorities to believe they were engaged in espionage.

According to M-Live, the five suspects who graduated from the University of Michigan in May 2024 are Zhekai Xu, Renxiang Guan, Haoming Zhu, Yi Liang, and Jingzhe Tao. They were found on the US military training base in 2023 near tents, military vehicles, and sensitive communications equipment. Court records show that the students were part of a joint program with Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

MSN reports – The students were found at Bear Lake on the camp’s property after midnight on Aug. 13, 2023. About 7,000 military officials, including some from Taiwan, were participating in live firing exercises, records show.

A U.S. sergeant major found the students taking photos near classified equipment and soldiers sleeping in tents, records show.

One of the students told the sergeant major they were Chinese media members. The sergeant major told them to leave, which they quickly did.

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Ex-diplomat’s Cuban Espionage Case Isn’t the Biggest U.S. “Spyfail”

Mainstream media outlets reacted with astonishment when they reported earlier this year that a former American diplomat had confessed to being a Cuban spy for more than four decades.

It was indeed shocking when Victor Manuel Rocha, U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, suddenly came clean to FBI investigators that he had been covertly gathering intelligence for the island since the early 1980s.

Fewer than six months after his arrest in December, Rocha was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison following a plea deal where he admitted to conspiring to act as an illegal foreign agent to defraud the United States.

According to court documents, the Bogotá-born envoy was first recruited by Cuba’s main state intelligence agency, the Intelligence Directorate or Dirección General de Inteligencia (DGI), as a student at Yale University in 1973.

Shortly after graduating, Rocha reportedly traveled to Chile around the time the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ousted the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende and was radicalized by the experience.

Cuba’s KGB-trained intelligence service has long enjoyed an esteemed reputation as one of the best in the world, famously having thwarted hundreds of attempts on the life of Fidel Castro by the CIA. The DGI has also become known for its effective operations abroad, such as the case of double agent Ana Montes who penetrated the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as an analyst for 17 years.

With the Rocha case closed within a few short months, it is unclear precisely what actions he took while in diplomatic service that could have benefited Havana. If true, not only did he have privileged access to classified information but the ability to directly impact U.S. diplomacy with tradecraft. However, many have noted that, while serving as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, Rocha made a name for himself during the Andean nation’s 2002 election when he publicly threatened the withdrawal of U.S. aid if then-underdog candidate Evo Morales were to win the presidency.

In hindsight, what was perceived as a controversial gaffe at the time, which inadvertently increased support for Morales, could have been deliberate if Rocha was truly an infiltrator

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What Was A Japanese Spy Doing In Belarus?

Belarusian media reported earlier this month that their security services busted a Japanese spy. He allegedly entered into a fictitious marriage that helped him legalize his stay in the country, after which he set up a business in Gomel to explain his travels, including to the border. He also taught Japanese. The spy allegedly had over 9,000 photos of roads, bridges, and military facilities and was actively in contact with his embassy. These reports raised a lot of eyebrows since few expected Japan to spy on Belarus. 

As it turns out, his home base of Gomel is in Ukraine’s crosshairs as explained last month here, and it’s possible that the security services’ additional scrutiny on all activities there as part of their precautionary measures resulted in them finally catching him. His interrogation also revealed that he was involved in the failed summer 2020 Color Revolution and had been monitoring the socio-economic situation as well, including the availability and prices of goods as well as locals’ reaction to this.

Considering the importance of his activities, especially in the context of the special operation, there’s no way that he’d be allowed to continue operating if anyone had picked up on what he was doing earlier. It’s therefore almost certainly the case that he only came on their radar recently as was speculated above. This means that he was transmitting highly sensitive information during the past two years of the New Cold War’s top proxy war, thus raising the question of why Japan would want to do this in the first place.

What might have been going on is that Japan was passing everything along to its Western partners in the implied hopes of them then supporting it more in its own part of the world. His most recent activities might also have played a role in Ukraine’s recent drone provocations in Belarus. In fact, he might have been pressured by his handlers into taking more risks than usual because the West demanded more information for Ukraine, which could have contributed to him finally getting caught.

This explanation is the most logical since Japan couldn’t act on its own with what that spy hadn’t uncovered this entire time. It was also reported that he was spying on China’s Belt & Road Initiative investments too, of which its primary one in Belarus is the “Great Stone” industrial park, which could have disguised his more nefarious activities had he been caught earlier under different circumstances. It’s much better, after all, to be busted for conducting “business intelligence” than military intelligence.

In retrospect, there’s not much that the security services could have done better to have stopped him ahead of time.

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