9 Indicted In International Plot to Threaten Chinese Couple: Feds

New York City NY

22 July, 2021

11:40 AM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — Nine people, including defendants from Queens and Brooklyn, have been indicted on accusations they acted as illegal agents of the People's Republic of China and conspired to stalk and harass a couple living in the United States to try get them to return to China where criminal charges awaited, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Two of the defendants also face charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice as part of an effort known as "Operation Fox Hunt." The operation, federal authorities said, included a Chinese prosecutor and a police officer allegedly traveling to the United States to direct the operation in the targeting of the couple. Tu Lan, 50, along with Zhai Yongqiang, 46, were recently indicted after seven other defendants were previously charged. Also named in the indictment are Hu Ji, 46, Li Minjun, 65, Zhu Feng, 34, a Chinese resident who was living permanently in Queens, Michael McMahon, 53, Mahwah, NJ, Zheng Congying, 24, Brooklyn and Zhu Yong (who is also known as Jason Zhu), 64, Norwich, Conn. The name of the ninth defendant has been sealed as part of the indictment, acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis said in a news release. The indictment was filed Thursday in Brooklyn, prosecutors said. Federal prosecutors said that Lan was employed as a prosecutor with the Hanyang People's Procuratorate, directed the harassment campaign and ordered one of his co-conspirators to destroy evidence and obstruct the criminal investigation. Lan, along with Ji, Minjun, Yongqiang and Feng all remain at large. The other defendants will be charged in the Eastern District of New York at a later time, according to the release. The indictment states that between 2012 and 2014, the Chinese government caused the International Criminal Police Organization to issue "red notices" for a couple listed in the indictment as John Doe No. 1 and his wife, Jane Joe No. 1. The red notices stated that John Doe No. 1 was wanted by the Chinese government for embezzlement, abuse of power and accepting bribes. The crimes, according to the notice, carried a maximum sentence of death under Chinese law. The charge of accepting bribes, carried a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said that the nine defendants participated in a campaign to harass, threaten and intimidate the couple to return to China as part of Operation Fox Hunt. The initiative, which is run by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, seeks to locate Chinese fugitives who had fled to foreign countries. Rather than cooperating with U.S. authorities, Chinese government officials traveled to the U.S. and directed non-official operatives to carry out the initiative, which is a violation of U.S. law, prosecutors said. The U.S. Attorney said that between 2016 and 2019, Lan and Ji, a Chinese police officer with the Wuhan Public Security Bureau, traveled to the U.S. and directed the operatives to harass and threaten the couple to return to China, prosecutors said. Such activity by foreign government officials, Kasulis said Thursday, cannot include secret surveillance of U.S. residents and will not be tolerated. The indictment also said that the operation also included transporting John Doe No. 1's father from China to the U.S. to tell his son that their family would be harmed in China if he did not return to China. Lan then returned to China and continued to direct the co-conspirators to continually harass the couple in the U.S. "Today's announcement serves to highlight the efforts of the FBI and its law enforcement partners to tirelessly and aggressively continue to utilize all available investigative tools and methods at their disposal to combat any illegal intrusions by the Chinese government to unilaterally undermine our economy and our free markets, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge George Crouch, Newark Field Office, said in the news release. "The FBI remains committed to holding actors from the People's Republic of China accountable when they direct criminal activity on U.S. soil. Further, the FBI will vigorously defend the American ideals of freedom and the rule of law against any foreign malign influence actors."