Two men suspected of being Chinese intelligence officers have been charged with attempting to obstruct a U.S. criminal investigation and prosecution of Chinese tech giant Huawei, according to court documents unsealed Monday.
The two men, Guochun He and Zheng Wang, are accused of trying to direct a person with the U.S. government whom they believed was a co-operator to provide confidential information about the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation, including about witnesses, trial evidence and potential new charges. One of the defendants paid about $61,000 US for the information, the Justice Department said.
The person the men reached out to began working as a double agent for the U.S government, and his contacts with the defendants were overseen by the FBI. At one point last year, prosecutors say, the unnamed person passed to the defendants a single-page document that appeared to be classified as secret and that contained information about a purported plan to charge and arrest Huawei executives in the U.S.
But the document was actually prepared by the government for the purposes of the prosecution that was unsealed Monday, and the information in it was not accurate.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by any foreign power to undermine the rule of law upon which our democracy is based,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland told a news conference.
Double agent
Prosecutors also unveiled charges against four Chinese nationals in what they called a long-running intelligence campaign.
The complaint against He and Wang alleges they tried to obtain confidential information concerning witnesses, trial evidence and any potential new charges the company could face. To do that, it alleges they tried to recruit someone from a U.S. law enforcement agency who they thought would help them spy for China.
Since October 2021, He and Wang paid the recruit $14,000 US plus $600 worth of jewelry, in exchange for what they believed was confidential information about the Justice Department’s investigation and criminal prosecution of the company, the complaint said.