Shapour Moinian, Espionage, California 2022

Former US Pilot Admits Espionage for China

Shapour Moinian, a former US Army helicopter pilot, has pleaded guilty to acting as a paid agent of China and lying on national security background forms. Moinian, 62, of San Diego, California, admitted to accepting thousands of dollars from Chinese government officials to provide aviation-related information from his defense-contractor employers.

Moinian served in the US Army from 1977 to 2000, working on various projects that involved classified information. After leaving the military, he worked for several cleared defense contractors in San Diego, including on projects related to aviation.

In 2017, Moinian was contacted by an individual in China who claimed to be working for a technical recruiting company. This person offered Moinian the opportunity to consult for the aviation industry in China, and Moinian agreed to provide information and materials related to multiple types of aircraft in exchange for money.

Moinian traveled to Hong Kong in March 2017, where he met with the purported recruiter and accepted approximately $7,000-$10,000 in cash. He then began gathering aviation-related materials, including proprietary information from his defense-contractor employers, and transferred it to a thumb drive.

Moinian provided the materials to Chinese government officials during a stopover at the Shanghai airport in September 2017. He was paid for this information through the South Korean bank account of his stepdaughter, who transferred the funds to him in multiple transactions.

Moinian also received a cell phone and other equipment from the Chinese individuals to communicate with them and aid in the electronic transfer of materials and information. He met with them again in Bali in March 2018 and in Hong Kong in August 2019, where he was paid an additional $22,000 in cash.

Moinian admitted to lying on his government background questionnaires in July 2017 and March 2020, when he falsely stated that he did not have any close or continuing contacts with foreign nationals and that no foreign national had offered him a job.

“This defendant took the aviation materials of his American employers and sold them to China,” said US Attorney Randy Grossman. “This conduct was an outrageous breach of trust by a former member of the US military. The United States will aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone who works at the direction of foreign governments to steal American tech.

Moinian faces up to 12 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. His sentencing is scheduled for a later date.

Defendant/Respondent: Shapour Moinian

Exact Criminal Charges: Acting as a paid agent of China and making false statements during national security background checks

City and State: San Diego, California

Exact Date: June 23, 2022

Sentence: Up to 12 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000

Dollar Amounts: Approximately $7,000-$10,000 in cash and $22,000 in cash

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/former-us-military-pilot-admits-acting-paid-agent-china-and-lying-national-security