© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: China’s and U.S.’ flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
By Jonathan Stempel and Sarah N. Lynch
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. prosecutors have charged two Chinese nationals with trying to obstruct the prosecution of a Chinese global telecommunications company, according to a filing in federal court in Brooklyn.
The defendants Guochun He and Zheng Wang were charged in a criminal complaint dated Oct. 20 and made public on Monday. The telecommunications company is a defendant in an ongoing prosecution, where the U.S. Department of Justice announced a superseding indictment in February 2020.
The complaint does not name the company, though it contains details which suggest the case pertains to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. In February 2020, the Justice Department announced that Huawei had been charged in a superseding indictment for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
A spokesperson for Huawei could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday.
The complaint against He and Wang alleges they tried to obtain confidential information concerning witnesses, trial evidence and any potential new charges the company could face.
To do that, it alleges they tried to recruit someone from a U.S. law enforcement agency who they thought would help them spy for China.
The recruit, the complaint says, was actually working as a double agent for the United States under FBI supervision.
Since October 2021, He and Wang paid the recruit $14,000 plus $600 worth of jewelry, in exchange for what they believed was confidential information about the Justice Department’s investigation and criminal prosecution of the company, the complaint said.
