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A former senior Federal Reserve official was arrested on Friday after American public prosecutors accused him of passing on economic secrets to China.
John Rogers, a senior adviser in the International Finance Division of the FED of 2010-21, used his position to gain sensitive data on China-related rates, briefings to officials and policy debates and announcements, according to an indictment that on Friday Federal court was fired in Washington.
Rogers, 63, from Virginia, was accused of transferring sensitive information to his personal e -mail account before it was printed and passed on to Chinese officials disguised as graduated students. He also used encrypted messages apps to communicate with Chinese officials, said the indictment.
The Ministry of Justice said on Friday that Rogers ‘under the guise of’ lessons ”, met his fellow samplers in Chinese hotel rooms where he provided them with sensitive commercial secrecy information that belonged to the FED.
It added that the economist had paid around $ 450,000 as a part -time professor at Fudan University in China.
Rogers’ lawyer could not be reached immediately for comment.
The indictment is the last in an increasing number of cases in which officials from the US government – and in particular agencies such as the CIA and the army – are accused of providing sensitive or secret information to the Chinese government.
In recent years, the Ministry of Justice has also become more public about emphasizing things to underline the threat of Chinese espionage. Washington has accused Chinese hackers of attacking American telecom networks in a huge and widespread campaign with which the perpetrators have access to the conversations of American officers.
The Chinese embassy in Washington said it was “not known” with the details of the Rogers case, but said that China “maintains the rule of law”.
“We resist every smears and attacks on China with so -called ‘spy risks’,” the embassy added.
The Chinese government is one of the largest global holders of American government bonds. Decisions and signals from interest rates about future monetary policy movements can also influence American treasury and are among the most viewed reports on global financial markets.
US Treasury figures show that from November China officially had $ 768.6 billion of the debt, making it the second largest foreign holder after Japan.
The indictment claims that the sensitive information was shared from “at least 2018” with alleged Chinese fellow-collectors “who worked for China’s intelligence and security equipment and who occurred as graduated students in a [Chinese] university”.
The Fed refused to comment.
Rogers, who speaks limited Chinese, discussed topics that would make the meetings look “legitimate in the eyes of the Fed”, according to coded messages exchanged with his alleged fellow sampleer who were quoted in the indictment.
Rogers’ journey was covered by his Chinese counterparts. ‘[D]Don’t worry about the costs of the trip. . . We do not waste money, but we can bear all the necessary costs, you can choose a comfortable and convenient way for the trip, “said an alleged fellow-sammerer in a message in the indictment.
The commercial secrets in the heart of the case reportedly include the assessment of an announcement from the European Central Bank, briefing notes for a member of the FED board and a document entitled “Pre-FOMC briefing”-all dated 2019.
Rogers lied against the Inspector General of the Fed in 2020 when he was asked about his access to and sharing sensitive material, said public prosecutors.