Ho hum...another spy
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A US Navy serviceman admitted Tuesday to accepting bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for transmitting sensitive US military information to the communist power.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, of Monterey Park, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with the intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe, both felonies, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
“Officer Zhao betrayed his country and the men and women of the US Navy by accepting bribes from a foreign adversary,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said Tuesday. “While he and the PRC officer he served took great pains to conceal their corrupt scheme, investigators were vigilant in uncovering this shameful plot.”
“Today’s resolution, requiring Zhao to plead guilty to all charges against him, shows that we will act swiftly and decisively to protect our nation from those who seek to undermine our security.”
Zhao admitted to receiving nearly $15,000 in bribes from the Chinese intelligence officer between August 2021 and May 2023, when he worked at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, Calif.
Zhao, who held a security clearance, secretly collected and transmitted information to China related to Navy operational security, military trainings and critical infrastructure, according to the Justice Department.
He specifically confessed to passing on plans for a large-scale maritime training exercise in the Pacific theatre, operational orders, and electrical diagrams and blueprints for a Japanese radar system.
