Jun Wei Yeo, also known as Dickson Yeo, worked for Chinese intelligence for four to five years, recruiting Americans with access to confidential information through the Internet and commissioning them to write reports, which he then moved to Beijing.
“The Chinese government uses a series of duplicities to obtain confidential information from unsuspecting Americans,” United States Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement. “Yeo was central to one of these schemes, using professional networking sites and a bogus consulting firm to attract Americans who might be of interest to the Chinese government. This is yet another example of the Chinese government’s exploitation of openness. of American society. “
False Consulting
Although he did not sign the contract, Yeo continued to work with Chinese intelligence agents, who increasingly asked him to focus on obtaining “non-public information” from the United States, related to issues such as artificial intelligence and the ongoing trade war. between the United States and China.
Yeo met with his intelligence handlers dozens of times, and when he traveled to China for these meetings, they regularly took him out of customs lines and took him to a separate office for admission into the country, which prosecutors said was intended of “hiding your identity when you traveled to China”.
As he increasingly targeted the US, Yeo created a fake consulting website and began soliciting resumes, receiving hundreds, including many from the US military and government personnel with security clearances, what would happen to their Chinese handlers.
One person who recruited in this way was a civilian who worked for the US Air Force in the F-35B military aircraft program, with a high-level security clearance. This person, who has not been identified by prosecutors, was in financial trouble and Yeo commissioned them to write a report for him.
Yeo moved to the US around January 2019, after which his handlers told him not to contact them for fear of being intercepted. When he had to contact, Yeo was told to do it from a local coffee shop.
It is unclear how and when Yeo was arrested, but this year he was accused of acting as “an illegal agent of a foreign power without first notifying the Attorney General,” and later pleaded guilty.
He must be sentenced in October and faces up to 10 years in prison.
“Today’s guilty plea underscores the ways the Chinese government continues to attack Americans with access to confidential government information, including using the Internet and non-Chinese citizens to attack Americans who never leave the United States.” Michael R. Sherwin, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement. “We will continue to prosecute those who use deceptive practices on the Internet and elsewhere to undermine our national security.”
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