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NYPD Officer Spied On Fellow Tibetans For Chinese Government, Federal Prosecutors Allege
By
Sophia Chang
Published Sep 21, 2020
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By
Sophia Chang
Published Sep 21, 2020
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A NYPD police officer and Army Reservist was arrested Monday on charges that he has been acting as an agent of the Chinese government and surveilling Tibetans living in the city, federal authorities said Monday.
Baimadajie Angwang, 33, of Williston Park in Nassau County, worked as a community liaison officer at the 111th Precinct in eastern Queens and held a “secret” security clearance as a member of the Army Reserves at Fort Dix, according to court documents filed by prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York federal court.
Court papers say Angwang, a native Tibetan and naturalized American citizen who reportedly served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Marine Corps, sent information to officials at the Chinese Consulate in Manhattan about the activities of ethnic Tibetans in New York.
Angwang has allegedly been working with two officials at the Chinese Consulate since 2014, including one official who was part of the Chinese government’s United Front Work Department, which handles “neutralizing sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority” of China, the court documents said.
That Chinese official at the consulate served as his handler, and in recorded conversations between the two, Angwang asked him to tell his superiors in Beijing that “you have recruited one in the police department” and also “hey, you have someone in the police here,” according to court papers. He identified potential ethnic Tibetan intelligence sources and “potential threats” to China, prosecutors allege.
Angwang allegedly offered “information from NYPD systems” and provided access to NYPD officials by inviting consulate officials to official NYPD events. He also sent information about “Chinese ethnic minorities who likely harbored anti-PRC views and who presently worked for elected officials in New York State” to his handler, saying they “chant slogans” and “utter nonsense” against the PRC, causing “more work for you,” according to prosecutors.
A message left for Angwang’s lawyer John Carman was not immediately returned Monday.
“The defendant allegedly violated his sworn oath to serve the New York City community and defend the Constitution against all enemies by reporting to (Chinese) government officials about the activities of Chinese citizens in the New York area and developing intelligence sources within the Tibetan community in the United States,” said Seth DuCharme, acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a press release. “This Office, together with our law enforcement partners, remains vigilant in rooting out any attempts at foreign influence though criminal activity taken on behalf of a foreign power in whatever form they may take.”
“As alleged in this federal complaint, Baimadajie Angwang violated every oath he took in this country. One to the United States, another to the U.S. Army, and a third to this Police Department,” said NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea in the release. “From the earliest stages of this investigation, the NYPD’s Intelligence and Internal Affairs bureaus worked closely with the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division to make sure this individual would be brought to justice.”
Angwang is currently suspended without pay, NYPD said.
The federal government has asked that Angwang be detained because he poses a significant flight risk -- his family still lives in China and records show several large wire transfers between him and his relatives, the complaint said. His father and brother are also members of the People's Liberation Army in China, and his mother a retired government official, court papers said.
Angwang first came to the US on a cultural visa and then sought asylum, saying he had been arrested and tortured in China because of his Tibetan ethnicity. The federal prosecutors say he’s since traveled several times back to China, which someone fearing torture or persecution would not do -- “thus showing that his U.S. citizenship was secured through false pretenses.”
In addition to charges of acting as an illegal agent of China, Angwang is charged with wire fraud, making false statements and obstructing an official proceeding. He did not reveal his contacts with a foreign government or continued contact with foreign nationals when he completed and submitted a federal background check form in 2019, the criminal complaint said.
If convicted, Angwang faces up to 55 years in prison.
Tagged
tibet
nypd
china
spies
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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