Florida Telecommunications and Information Technology Worker Charged with Acting as Agent of PRC Government

An indictment was unsealed today charging Ping Li, 59, of Wesley Chapel, Florida, with conspiring to act as an agent of the People's Republic of China (PRC) without notification to the Attorney General and with acting as an agent of the PRC without notification to the Attorney General. If convicted, Li faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

According to the court documents, the PRC's Ministry of State Security (MSS) is in charge of civilian intelligence collection for the PRC. The MSS often uses "cooperative contacts" located in countries outside of the PRC in furtherance of their intelligence goals, which include obtaining information concerning foreign corporate or industrial matters, foreign politicians or intelligence officers and information concerning PRC political dissidents residing in those countries. These cooperative contacts assist the MSS in a variety of ways, including by conducting research on topics of interest to the PRC that can be used to further the MSS' mission.

The indictment alleges that Li was a U.S. citizen who immigrated to the United States from the PRC. At various times, Li worked for a major U.S. telecommunications company and an international information technology company.

From as early as 2012, Li allegedly served as a cooperative contact working at the direction of officers of the MSS to obtain information of interest to the PRC government. Li obtained a wide variety information at the request of the MSS, including information concerning Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy advocates, members of the Falun Gong religious movement, and U.S.-based non-governmental organizations, and to report that information to the MSS. Li also provided the MSS with information obtained from his employer. Li used a variety of anonymous online accounts for the purpose of communicating with the MSS, and traveled to the PRC to meet with the MSS.

For example, according to the indictment, in August 2012, an MSS officer requested that Li provide information about practitioners of Falun Gong and pro-democracy advocates in the United States. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a religious movement that originated in the PRC in the 1990s. Falun Gong is not one of the five religions formally recognized by the PRC government, and it has been banned since 1999. Its adherents both in China and abroad are of particular interest to the PRC government because of Falun Gong's advocacy of ideas deemed subversive to the PRC government. Less than a week after receiving this request, Li sent the name and biographical information of an individual affiliated with Falun Gong residing in St. Petersburg, Florida.

In March 2015, an MSS officer requested information from Li about branch offices that Li's employer, a major U.S. telecommunications company, had opened in the PRC. Li responded with the requested information three weeks later.

In March 2017, an MSS officer requested a training instruction plan from Li. In April 2017, Li responded indicating that he had uploaded materials to an online account that he shared with the MSS officer and asked the MSS officer to delete the materials after reading them.

In May 2021, an MSS officer requested information from Li concerning hacking events targeting U.S. companies, including a widely publicized hacking of a major U.S. company by the Chinese government. Within four days, Li responded with the requested information.

In March 2022, an MSS officer requested from Li information concerning Li's new employer, an international information technology company, as well as materials relating to cybersecurity training. That same day, Li sent the requested information about his employer as well as materials relating to cybersecurity training.

In June 2022, an MSS officer requested from Li information concerning an individual who, according to the officer, had resided in the PRC but fled to the United States, and the name and suspected residential address in the United States of that individual. That same day, Li responded with information about the owners of that residential address.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the National Security Division, Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI's National Security Branch and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. Marcet and Karyna Valdes for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Scott Claffee of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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