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Michael Charles Schena, 42, was charged with conspiring to gather and transmit US national defense information to people not authorized to receive it. Schena, who has worked at State Dept headquarters in Washington, held a top secret security clearance and had access to information up to the secret level, the Justice Dept said in a statement.
Schena, a South Caribbean desk officer, has not yet entered a plea. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a State Department spokesperson did not immediately comment.
He accepted payments in return for sharing information with people he met through “various communication platforms” beginning in April 2022, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Surveillance footage captured Schena photographing at least five diplomatic documents marked secret at a State Department work station last month, according to the complaint. He was arrested the same day outside his Virginia home.
It is not immediately clear what the documents were or with whom they were shared. An invoice referenced in the criminal complaint referred to “CNY”, which authorities said they believe to be a reference to China’s yuan.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
South China Morning Post web site
US-China relations-—China Diplomacy
Army trio planned to share defence secrets with China; US Justice Department: Two of the men arrested in joint operation with FBI were on active duty while the third is no longer a serving soldier
Published: 1:56pm, 7 Mar 2025, scmp.com
Two active-duty and one former US Army soldier have been accused of conspiring to sell “sensitive” and “top secret” national defence information to China, according to a Justice Department statement.
Jian Zhao and Li Tian, who were stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, along with former soldier Asian Ruoyu Duan, were arrested on indictments from Oregon and Washington, the statement said.
“The defendants … are accused of betraying our country, actively working to weaken America’s defence capabilities, and empowering our adversaries in China,” said US Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “They will face swift, severe, and comprehensive justice.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that the arrests were carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation “along with our inter-agency partners”, under Bondi’s leadership.
Patel also emphasised in his social media post that the alleged actions of the accused amounted to a “betrayal of our country”.
The Justice Department said that between November 28, 2021 and December 19, 2024, Duan and Tian conspired to secretly gather sensitive military information on US operational capabilities, including technical manuals and other confidential materials.
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