Communist Agent Pleads Guilty of Stealing Tech, Lured Americans With Promises of Lucrative Jobs

An agent of the Chinese Communist Party, who recruited Americans with security clearances to give away technical data, admitted he was guilty of trying to hide his activities from the US Government while he pushed his fake company on social media sites in order to lure and trap Americans

“Even as China marches towards economic dominance in Eurasia, the realities of global competition have created a briar patch for China’s central planners.,” wrote Dickson Yeo, in 2019, in Breaking Defense News.

In 2020 Yeo would be in American custody. “Today’s guilty plea underscores the ways that the Chinese government continues to target Americans with access to sensitive government information, including using the Internet and non-Chinese nationals to target Americans who never leave the United States,” said Michael R. Sherwin, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

“We will continue to prosecute those who use deceptive practices on the Internet and elsewhere to undermine our national security,” Sherwin said.

“The tactics Mr. Yeo used to target cleared individuals on professional networking social media sites are just one facet of the full-court press China employs on a daily basis to obtain non-public U.S. government information.  The FBI urges citizens, especially those holding security clearances, to be cautious when being approached by individuals on social media sites with implausible career opportunities,” the Department of Justice wrote.

Singaporean National Pleads Guilty to Acting in the United States as an Illegal Agent of Chinese Intelligence https://t.co/xWOMcYPo2r

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) July 24, 2020

According to the Press release, “Yeo worked to spot and assess Americans with access to valuable non-public information, including U.S. military and government employees with high-level security clearances.  After Yeo identified American targets, he solicited them for non-public information and paid them to write reports.  Yeo told these American targets that the reports were for clients in Asia, without revealing that they were in fact destined for the Chinese government.”

Yeo’s Linkedin Profile HERE

Yeo’s Quora profile HERE

From the Department of Justice Press Release:

“The Chinese Government uses an array of duplicity to obtain sensitive information from unsuspecting Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s National Security Division John C. Demers.  “Yeo was central to one such scheme, using career networking sites and a false consulting firm to lure Americans who might be of interest to the Chinese government.  This is yet another example of the Chinese government’s exploitation of the openness of American society.”

“At the direction of Chinese intelligence operatives, the defendant targeted U.S. government employees and an Army officer to obtain information for the government of China.  Mr. Yeo admits he set up a fake consulting company to further his scheme, looked for susceptible individuals who were vulnerable to recruitment, and tried to avoid detection by U.S. authorities,” said Alan E. Kohler Jr., Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.  “But this isn’t just about this particular defendant.  This case is yet another reminder that China is relentless in its pursuit of U.S. technology and policy information in order to advance its own interests.  The FBI and our partners will be just as aggressive in uncovering these hidden efforts and charging individuals who break our laws.”

“Mr. Yeo admitted that he not only provided valuable information to Chinese intelligence, but also that he knowingly recruited others in the U.S. to do the same,” said FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Timothy R. Slater.    We are committed to holding those accountable who attempt to work for Chinese intelligence and other adversaries to the detriment of our national security.”

“The Diplomatic Security Service is firmly committed to working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our other law enforcement partners to investigate allegations of crime and protect our national security,” said Galen J. Nace, Deputy Assistant Director for Counterintelligence of the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).

As outlined in the statement of offense, Yeo began working with Chinese intelligence officers as early as 2015, initially targeting other Asian countries, but then focusing on the United States.  In response to taskings from his Chinese intelligence contacts,

Yeo made use of various social media sites to carry out the taskings given to him by Chinese intelligence operatives.  In 2018, Yeo created a fake consulting company that used the same name as a prominent U.S. consulting firm that conducts public and government relations, and Yeo posted job advertisements under that company name.  Ninety percent of the resumes Yeo received in response were from U.S. military and government personnel with security clearances, and he passed resumes of interest to one of the Chinese intelligence operatives.

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