FBI employee pleads guilty to passing on “classified information” to Chinese
Kun Shan Chun concealed his relationships with people in government in China and handed over travel details of American spy
AN electronics technician for the FBI has pleaded guilty to secretly passing on classified information to the Chinese acting as a secret agent.
Kun Shan Chun, who is also known as "Joey," was working in the New York offices of the organisation.
He was born in Guangdong, in China, but became a naturalised US citizen in 1985.
Chun, 46, was also accused of making false statements - he passed on an FBI organizational chart which revealed the identity and the travel plans of an agent.
He appeared in court in Manhattan on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent without notifying the attorney general.
According to the he didn't reveal he had ties to China when he filled in a security clearance form.
Chun had worked with the Bureau for 19 years - his job involved "accessing sensitive, and in some instance classified, information."
A document unsealed on Monday stated he had ties to 'one individual whom Chun understood to be affiliated with the Chinese government,' and ties to the Zhuhai Kolion Technology Company."
Prosecutors said Chun continued to keep those relationships, and lied "as part of a longstanding and concerted effort to conceal these relationships."
In a wiretapped conversation with an agent he didn't reveal his connections.
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When Chun went to Europe in July 2015, he said he met with a Chinese associate, and expressed he wanted to organise meetings with his contacts from the China.
According to the New York Times, Chun's attorney said: "Today Joey Chun accepted responsibility for some mistakes in judgment that he deeply regrets.
"The truth is that Mr Chun loves the United States and never intended to cause it any harm.
"He hopes to put this matter behind him and move forward with his life."