Two individuals, John Chen, aka Chen Jun, 70, and Lin Feng, both residents of Los Angeles, California, have been charged with acting and conspiring to act in the United States as unregistered agents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The indictment alleges that Chen and Feng participated in a PRC Government-directed scheme targeting U.S.-based practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in the PRC, from at least approximately January 2023 to May 2023.
According to the complaint, Chen and Feng worked inside the United States at the direction of the PRC government, including an identified PRC government official (PRC Official-1), to further the PRC government’s campaign to repress and harass Falun Gong practitioners.
Chen and Feng allegedly waged a campaign at the behest of the Government of the People’s Republic of China to influence a U.S. Government official in order to further the PRC Government’s repression of practitioners of Falun Gong.
“The Chinese government has yet again attempted, and failed, to target critics of the PRC here in the United States,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “We allege the defendants in this case attempted to bribe someone they thought was an IRS agent in order to further the Chinese government’s campaign of transnational repression in the United States.”
Chen and Feng were arrested on May 7, 2024, in the Central District of California. The charges against them include acting and conspiring to act in the United States as unregistered agents of the People’s Republic of China, conspiring to bribe and bribing a public official, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The complaint alleges that the defendants worked to further the PRC government’s campaign to repress and harass Falun Gong practitioners, a spiritual practice banned in the PRC. The PRC Government has designated the Falun Gong as one of the “five poisons,” or one of the top five threats to its rule.
The outcome of the case is currently pending. This is an ongoing investigation, and no sentence or outcome has been reported at this time.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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