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By Mike Mitchell |
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February 10, 2010
- A former Boeing engineer, Dongfan “Greg” Chung was sentenced to 15
years in federal prison on six counts of economic espionage and acting
as an unregistered foreign agent of the People’s Republic of
At sentencing U.S. District Judge Carney said the court could not
determine what information had been passed onto
Dongfan “Greg”
Chung, 73, of
The indictment
accuses Chung of eight counts of economic espionage, one count of
conspiracy to commit economic espionage, one count of acting as an
unregistered foreign agent without prior notification to the Attorney
General, one count of obstruction of justice, and three counts of making
false statements to FBI investigators. |
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Chung, a native of “Certain foreign governments are committed to obtaining the American trade secrets that can advance the development of their military capabilities. This case demonstrates that the Justice Department is equally committed to foiling those efforts through the arrest and prosecution of those who conduct economic espionage at the expense of our economic and national security,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Kenneth L. Wainstein. |
United States
Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien stated: “Mr. Chung was accused of stealing
restricted technology that had been developed over many years by
engineers who were sworn to protect their work product because it
represented trade secrets. Disclosure of this information to outside
entities like the PRC would compromise our national security.”
Chi Mak, An
engineer who conspired with family members to export
“We will never
know the full extent of the damage that Mr. Mak has done to our national
security,” Judge Carney wrote in a “Statement of Reasons”. “A
high-end...sentence will provide a strong deterrent to the PRC not to
send its agents here to steal American military secrets.”
Chi Mak and his
wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, copied the information intended for the PRC
onto CD-ROM disks, which were then given to Chi Mak’s brother, Tai Mak.
Yui “Billy” Mak, who is Tai Mak’s son, encrypted the defense data onto a
CD-ROM disk in preparation for surreptitious delivery to the PRC. This
CD-ROM was found hidden in luggage on October 28, 2005 when Tai Mak and
his wife, Fuk Heung Li, attempted to board a flight to the PRC at
Individuals in the
Chinese aviation industry began sending Chung “tasking” letters as early
as 1979. Over the years, the letters directed Chung to collect specific
technological information, including data related to the Space Shuttle
and various military and civilian aircraft. Chung responded in one
letter indicating a desire to contribute to the “motherland.”
In various letters
to his handlers in the PRC, Chung referenced engineering manuals he had
collected and sent to the PRC, including 24 manuals relating to the B-1
Bomber that Rockwell had prohibited from disclosure outside of the
company. According to the indictment, between 1985 and 2003, Chung made
multiple trips to the PRC to deliver lectures on technology involving
the Space Shuttle and other programs, and during those trips he met with
officials and agents of the PRC government. Chung and PRC officials
exchanged letters that discussed cover stories for Chung’s travel to
The indictment
described a May 2, 1987 letter from Gu Weihao, an official in the
Ministry of Aviation and China Aviation Industry Corporation, which
discussed the possibility of inviting Chung’s wife, who is an artist, to
visit an art institute so that Chung could use the cover of traveling
with his wife as an excuse to travel to the PRC.
This same letter
suggested that passing information to the PRC through Chi Mak would be
“faster and safer” and concluded with the statement: “It is your honor
and |
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