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A 27-year-old Chinese national who served on the US Army Reserve was arrested Tuesday on a federal charge to help China-based intelligence agents recruit spies living in the country, according to a report. federal prosecutors.
Ji Chaoqun, who has been living in Chicago since 2013, was jailed without bail Tuesday during a first appearance before Judge Michael Mason.
An unsealed criminal complaint Tuesday accuses Ji of working with intelligence officers from the Chinese Ministry of State Security by sending information on eight potential recruits to the confidential unit in 2015.
The eight were naturalized US citizens born in Mainland China or Taiwan who were working or had recently retired in scientific, technological or aerospace fields, according to the 16-page complaint. At least seven of these people were employed by American subcontractors.
Ji sent the background reports – purchased to Spokeo, Intelius and Instant Checkmate for a total of $ 700 – to a Chinese intelligence officer via email with the subject "Mid-Term Test Questions".
"In my training and experience, it is common for Chinese intelligence agents to instruct their US assets to conceal the information they provide to their managers in China to protect this information, the property and the security officer. information ". written in the complaint.
In May, the complaint alleges that Ji disclosed the arrangement to an undercover FBI agent who took audio and video recordings of their meeting. Ji said he met with the intelligence agents at a school fair in Beijing to promote the confidential unit.
"They just wanted me to buy documents on their behalf," Ji told the officer. "Their reason was just because it was inconvenient for them to make payments from China."
Ji's lawyer, Laura Hoey, declined to comment on Tuesday through a spokeswoman for her law firm.
Despite Ji's alleged contacts with several Chinese intelligence agents, he was able to enlist in the US Army Reserve in May 2016, according to the complaint.
Ji asked the military through the Vital Military Accessions Program in the National Interest Program, which allows armed forces to recruit non-citizens with specialized skills, according to the complaint.
Representatives of the Army Reserve did not respond to requests for comments Monday afternoon.
Ji moved to Chicago on an F1 visa, which earned him a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2015, according to the complaint.
Authorities began investigating Ji in late 2017 when 36 text messages from his cell phone appeared in an Apple iCloud database seized by agents during a separate investigation in Ohio.
The investigation targeted a person accused of providing the Chinese government with technical information about a major aircraft company.
Ji allegedly exchanged text messages with two Chinese intelligence agents between December 2013 and July 2015, according to the complaint.
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© 2018 the Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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