thecoinrise.com
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has unveiled charges against some Chinese operatives who attempted to unlawfully exert influence in the State on account of the People’s Republic of China.
According to the criminal complaint filed on October 20 and released on Monday two Chinese men by the name of Guochun He and Zheng Wang were charged for allegedly interfering with the US justice system.
The duo who allegedly worked for the Chinese government tried to influence US law enforcement agencies to obtain insider information concerning a US criminal case against an international telecommunication company with headquarters in China.
Although the document did not mention the company in question, a source familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity claims it is Huawei Technologies. The China-based firm is involved in a drawn-out battle with the US for concerns on national security and trade secrets.
Interestingly He and Wang first recruited the unnamed US official in February 2017 but not long after, unbeknownst to them, the official began to work as a double agent feeding the duo with false information whilst gathering evidence against them for the US government.
The Chinese spies paid about $61,000 worth of Bitcoin in two separate payments to the unnamed US official in hopes to acquire that will help Huawei’s case. Should the accused men who are still at large be convicted, the duo of He and Wang could see up to 60 and 20 years in jail time respectively.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the DoJ recently pronounced a two-year jail term for Erig Meiggs and Declan Harrington. They were sentenced for defrauding their victims of cryptocurrency valued at around $330,000.
FBI calls out the Chinese Government for Interference
The charges against He and Wang are one of three cases allegedly involving Chinese individuals.
In one case filed in New York, four Chinese Nationals were accused of conspiracy to act as illegal agents in the US at the behest of the Chinese government. In another case, seven Chinese Nationals allegedly tried to threaten and harass a US citizen in China.
According to the FBI director, each of these cases shows China’s disregard for international laws and an attempt to project its authoritarian views around the world.