The Ministry of Justice said that two US military soldiers in Washington and a former soldier were arrested on Thursday for bribery and theft, and they were accused in separate federal indictment of conspiracy to obtain sensitive government information and sell them.
The defendants were identified as the first lieutenant Lee Tian, the health services official; Sergeant. Jian Chao, a dedicated supply sergeant in the seventeenth field artillery brigade; And Ruoyu Duan, from Helsburo, Oregana, who served in the army from 2013 to 2017. The two soldiers were stationed at a joint base of Louis-Matrord in Washington State.
On Wednesday, one of the indictment was accused in the US Local Court in Oregon, Lieutenant Tian, of conspiring with Mr. Duan, the former soldier, from November 2021 to December of last year, to collect information secretly on army operations, including technical brochures.
Federal prosecutors said that Lieutenant Tian collected sensitive information related to Bradley Vehicles and will recite the armored vehicles that the army used and sent this information to Mr. Duan for money.
Sergeant Zhao was accused of a separate indictment, which was presented at the American District Court of the Western Region in Washington on Wednesday, of conspiracy to obtain and sell nearly twenty solid drives, some of which are “the secret” and “the highest secret”, for buyers in China. The indictment says that Sergeant Zhao before payments, which total $ 15,000, starting from around July 2024.
Prosecutor Bam Bondi said in a press statement announced by the arrests: “The defendants accuse the detainees today of betraying our country, and actively weaken the American defense capabilities and enable our opponents in China,” Public Prosecutor Bam Bondi said in a press statement announced by the arrests. “They will face quick, severe and comprehensive justice.”
It was not immediately clear whether any of the defendants had attorneys.
Lieutenant Tian and Mr. Duan were accused of conspiring to commit a crime against the United States, bribe a public official and steal government property. He was charged with Sergeant Zhao of conspiracy to collect national defense information, bribe a public official and steal government property.
On one of the encrypted stocks of October, Sergeant Zhao told one of his unveiled conspirators that he had “good things”, according to his indictment.
A very sensitive document. “It is very difficult to obtain it,” he said, referring to a document on Himars, which is a multi -groin bomber installed on the trucks. He priced the file for $ 3000. He covered with the buyer on the price of two documents before settling on $ 6500.
According to the Ministry of Justice, these documents contained unknown but sensitive information about missile systems and military readiness in the event of an armed conflict with China. In other cases, the representatives of the federal prosecutors said, “Silm or” secret “tags of China, in other cases. The contents of the hard drives specified in the indictment were not detected.
“These arrests emphasize the constant and increased foreign intelligence threat facing our army and nation.” General Rit R. Cox, Commander -in -Chief of the Anti -Equipment Command in the army, in the press statement.
