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Nine Charged in China’s ‘Operation Fox Hunt’
A superseding indictment was filed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging nine defendants with acting and conspiring to act in the United States as illegal agents of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) without prior notification to the Attorney General, and engaging and conspiring to engage in interstate and international stalking.
Two defendants, Tu Lan and Zhu Feng, were also charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice arising out of the same course of conduct. The defendants, allegedly acting at the direction and under the control of PRC government officials, conducted surveillance of and engaged in a campaign to harass, stalk and coerce certain residents of the United States to return to the PRC as part of a global, concerted and extralegal repatriation effort known as “Operation Fox Hunt”.
In addition to the six defendants previously charged in a related criminal complaint in October 2020 and a related indictment in May 2021, the superseding indictment alleges that Tu Lan, a new defendant who was employed as a prosecutor with the Hanyang People’s Procuratorate, traveled to the United States, directed the harassment campaign and ordered a coconspirator to destroy evidence to obstruct the criminal investigation.
Defendants Tu Lan, Hu Ji, Li Minjun, Zhai Yongqiang and Zhu Feng remain at large. Co-defendants Michael McMahon, Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date. The name of the ninth defendant remains under seal.
“As alleged, the defendants, acting as agents of the PRC, carried out an illegal and clandestine campaign to harass and threaten targeted U.S. residents in order to force them to return to the PRC. Unregistered, roving agents of a foreign power are not permitted to engage in secret surveillance of U.S. residents on American soil, and their illegal conduct will be met with the full force of U.S. law,” stated Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“To the extent the PRC seeks to repatriate its citizens to the PRC, its agents are required to register with the Attorney General of the United States, coordinate with U.S. officials, and adhere to U.S. laws and protocols.” Ms. Kasulis also extended her thanks and appreciation to the FBI’s Newark and Los Angeles field offices for their work on the case.
“Law enforcement officials around the world act according to a professional code of conduct,” stated Mark J. Lesko, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “They act to enforce the law, not to violate it in such an egregious manner. That a prosecutor and police officer not only directed and participated in a criminal scheme on U.S. soil, but then attempted to cover it up, is an affront to justice of the highest order.”
“Today’s announcement serves to highlight the efforts of the FBI and its law enforcement partners to tirelessly and aggressively continue to utilize all available investigative tools and methods at their disposal to combat any illegal intrusions by the Chinese government to unilaterally undermine our economy and our free markets, stated George M. Crouch, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Newark Field Office (FBI)
“HSI, with its law enforcement partners, will outfox atte”
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Public Corruption|Organized Crime|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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