Chinese Spy, Chi Mak, 'Slept' In U.S. for 2 Decades
Joby Warrick and Carrie Johnson write in The Washington Post:
Prosecutors called Chi Mak the "perfect sleeper agent," though he hardly looked the part. For two decades, the bespectacled Chinese-born engineer lived quietly with his wife in a Los Angeles suburb, buying a house and holding a steady job with a U.S. defense contractor, which rewarded him with promotions and a security clearance. Colleagues remembered him as a hard worker who often took paperwork home at night.
Eventually, Mak's job gave him access to sensitive plans for Navy ships, submarines and weapons. These he secretly copied and sent via courier to China -- fulfilling a mission that U.S. officials say he had been planning since the 1970s.
Mak was sentenced last week to 24 1/2 years in prison by a federal judge who described the lengthy term as a warning to China not to "send agents here to steal America's military secrets." But it may already be too late: According to U.S. intelligence and Justice Department officials, the Mak case represents only a small facet of an intelligence-gathering operation that has long been in place and is growing in size and sophistication.
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Three Indicted in China Spy Case
Via Red Herring.
A Chinese-American engineer working for a unit of a major U.S. defense contractor was indicted Tuesday for allegedly stealing U.S. military secrets with the aim of passing them to China.
The single-count indictment charges Chi Mak, a U.S. citizen and an engineer with Power Paragon, a unit of L-3 Communications, with allegedly taking classified Navy technology home.
The indictment also charges his wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, with helping Mr. Mak transfer the information to CDs. According to the indictment, Mr. Mak’s brother, Tai Wang Mak, encrypted the stolen data and made plans to deliver it to China.
An FBI affidavit states that Mr. Mak was the lead engineer for a classified project known as Quiet Electric Drive (QED), which is designed to propel U.S. warships.
Four Indicted in Case of Technology Smuggling
An AP newswire article, via The New York Times, reports that:
An engineer, a Chinese television director and their wives were indicted on charges of stealing secret documents on American Navy warship technology and trying to smuggle them to China, prosecutors said.
The engineer, Chi Mak, a naturalized American citizen from China, was ordered held without bail on Monday, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the United States attorney's office. Also arrested were Mr. Mak's wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu; his brother, Tai Wang Mak; and his sister-in-law, Fuk Heung Li.
The four face charges of stealing government property, aiding and abetting, transportation of stolen goods, and conspiracy, Mr. Mrozek said.
Ms. Chiu, an American of Chinese descent, was in court on Friday. Her bail was set at $300,000, Mr. Mrozek said. She remains in jail. Bail hearings for Tai Wang Mak, a Chinese citizen and legal resident of the United States, and his wife, a legal resident from China, are scheduled for Nov. 7.
U.S. Engineer Gets 24 Years for Exporting Military Data to China
Via China Digital Times (AFP).
Chi Mak, who worked for a US company with several Navy contracts, was convicted last May of trying to export intelligence about silent submarines in a plot that involved four members of his family.
Mak, whose age was given as 65 by justice officials, was also fined 50,000 dollars by US District Judge Cormac Carney, who said the lengthy sentence was intended to send a message to China’s intelligence services…
He was found guilty of two counts of attempting to send sensitive material to China, acting as a foreign agent without notifying the US government and making false statements to federal agents.
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Accused Chinese Spy's Defense Bolstered by e-Mails
H.G. Reza writes in The Los Angeles Times:
An attorney showed a jury e-mails Thursday that he said proved officials at an Anaheim defense firm knew that an engineer accused of illegally supplying military technology to China was going to present the information at a public symposium.
Chi Mak, 67, is on trial in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, charged with 15 counts of conspiring to violate export laws, exporting or attempting to export defense information to China, acting as an agent of the Chinese government and lying to the FBI. He has been held without bail since his arrest on Oct. 28, 2005. A naturalized citizen who grew up in China, he worked on Navy warship projects for Power Paragon Inc.
Fred Witham, head of security at Power Paragon for 15 years, testified that Mak presented documents at the conferences without company approval.
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In Spy Case, Jury Is Schooled in Chinese Grammar
Josh Gerstein writes in The New York Sun:
A federal jury here is being schooled in the nuances and ambiguities of the Chinese language as defense lawyers challenge translations that the government says put the defendant, Chi Mak, at the center of a long-running Chinese espionage operation in the American defense industry.
In testimony yesterday, a linguist for the defense disputed the FBI's interpretation of wiretaps and surveillance recordings that the prosecution claims are incriminating evidence that Mr. Mak was a covert agent.
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Prosecution: Spy Case Shows China's Effort To Steal U.S. Secrets
Josh Gerstein writes in The New York Sun:
The career of a Chinese-born electrical engineer, Chi Mak, over four decades is a textbook example of how China's spy services encourage their agents to burrow into American society in order to steal America's defense secrets, federal prosecutors said yesterday.
The picture of Mr. Mak as a dedicated and patient Chinese spy, along with an alternate image of him as a tireless and loyal developer of vital technologies for the American Navy, came as the government and the defense presented opening statements in one of the most significant China-related prosecutions ever to go trial in an American courtroom.
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Prosecutors Reverse Course in China Spy Case
Josh Gerstein writes in The New York Sun:
After complaints from business lawyers and university administrators, prosecutors on a Chinese espionage case have reversed course, acknowledging that the defendant, Chi Mak, may attempt to defend himself by arguing that the military-related reports he sent to China were in the public domain.
Mr. Mak is on trial in Santa Ana, Calif., on charges of conspiracy to export defense-related data without a license, acting as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government, and lying to investigators.
The government contends that he sent the Chinese sensitive plans for quiet submarine drive technology, electrical systems, and a new generation of Navy warships.
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U.S. Stance in Spy Case Sparks Concern in Academia
Josh Gerstein writes in The New York Sun:
Concern about the government's aggressive legal stance in a Chinese espionage case is spreading from industry to academia, where some fear that the prosecution's position undermines a long-standing consensus about unfettered access to scientific research.
"This is just shocking," an attorney at Stanford University's Office of General Counsel, Rachel Claus, said.
The sharp reaction is to the Justice Department's arguments against a Chinese-born electrical engineer, Chi Mak, who is accused of conspiring to send data on submarine propulsion and other subjects to the Chinese government. Prosecutors have asserted that Mr. Mak cannot defend himself against the export control charges by arguing that the information was in the public domain.
"If you take their line of argument, you can't have Chinese students at a university studying and learning information in a textbook," a compliance officer at Stanford, Steve Eisner, said. He noted that giving information to a foreign national in America can be considered the equivalent of exporting that data abroad.
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California Jury Finds Chinese-Born U.S. Citizen Guilty of Stealing Military Data
An AP newswire article, via MSNBC, reports that:
Jurors convicted a Chinese-born engineer Thursday of conspiring to export U.S. defense technology to China, including data on an electronic propulsion system that could make submarines virtually undetectable.
Chi Mak also was found guilty of being an unregistered foreign agent. Prosecutors had dropped a charge of actually exporting defense articles.
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Business Frets Over Impact of China Spy Case
Josh Gerstein writes in The New York Sun:
A major Chinese espionage case set to open today is causing concern among attorneys for major defense contractors and exporters, who contend that one of the prosecution's key legal arguments upsets a long-standing interpretation of export laws and could wreak havoc in industry and elsewhere.
Opening arguments from the prosecution and defense are expected in federal court here this morning in the case of Chi Mak, an engineer accused, along with four of his family members, of conspiring to transfer naval technology to China.
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Five Charged With Conspiracy To Export U.S. Defense Info To China
Sharon Gaudin writes on InformationWeek:
Government prosecutors are preparing for a hearing next week in a case in which five family members are charged with conspiring to export U.S. defense information to China.
Chi Mak, 66, of Downey, Calif., was an engineer with Power Paragon, a Navy contractor. He allegedly collected technical information about U.S. warship technologies, and then he and his wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, copied it onto CD-ROMs. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, another family member then allegedly encrypted the defense data in preparation for a "surreptitious delivery" to the People's Republic of China.
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