News

NYPD officer accused of being an illegal agent of the Chinese government

by on

More in News:

PHOTO CREDITS:DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES 

An NYPD officer has been accused of being an illegal agent of the Chinese government, according to CNN. 

The officer, Baimadajie Angwang, 33, was arrested Monday, according to the US Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York. The officer has been accused of using his position in the department’s community affairs unit to give Chinese officials access to NYPD officials and offered insider information about its operations, according to a criminal complaint. Prosecutors say in the complaint that an investigation revealed Angwang allegedly acted at the direction and control of Chinese officials to report on activities of ethnic Tibetans in the New York City area to the consulate, and helped spot and assess potential Tibetan intelligence sources. Prosecutors allege that since 2018, Angwang has maintained a relationship with at least two Chinese officials stationed at the consulate in New York. He allegedly received tasks from and reported back to them, even referring to one of the officials repeatedly as “Boss.” 

Angwang, who joined the department in 2016, is part of the NYPD’s community affairs unit based in Queens. Angwang is a former Marine who served in Afghanistan in 2013, according to his service record. Since 2014, he has served as a US Army Reservist, where he is a staff sergeant working as a civil affairs specialist. According to the criminal complaint, his duties with the Army Reserve include “advising the command on the tactical and operational deployment” of civil affairs teams. A naturalized US citizen, Angwang came to the United States from China on a cultural exchange visa, overstayed his second visa and eventually applied for asylum in the United States, claiming he was “arrested and tortured” in the People’s Republic of China due in part to his Tibetan ethnicity, according to the complaint.

Angwang is currently suspended; the NYPD did not respond when asked whether he is suspended with pay. He had his first court appearance Monday, after being charged by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn with acting as a foreign agent without notifying American authorities, wire fraud, and making false statements. He was also charged with obstruction of an official proceeding. Prosecutors claim he lied on a national security clearance form that granted him a “secret” security clearance. 

ARTICLE: CONNOR KMIECIK

Leave a Reply