NYPD Officer Charged with Acting as Illegal Agent of China

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested and charged a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer with acting as an illegal agent for the communist Chinese government, court documents state.

Officer Baimadajie Angwang worked in Queens and holds the rank of Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, according to authorities. Angwang is a civil affairs specialist for the Army Reserve and possesses “Secret” level security clearance at Fort Dix.

CNBC reports:

Angwang, who was born in the autonomous region of Tibet in China, allegedly repeatedly reported to officials at the Chinese consulate in New York on the activities of other ethnic Tibetans in the New York areas. Authorties noted in a criminal complaint that Angwang, who currently works for the New York Police Department in the boroough of Queens, “initially traveled to the United States on a cultural exchange visa” but after overstaying a second visa he “eventually sought asylum in the United States on the basis that he had allegedly been arrested and tortured in the [People’s Republic of China” due partly to his this Tibetan ethnicity.

[…]

Angwang is charge with acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the attorney general, wire fraud, making false statements, and obstruction of an official proceeding.

Angwang is accused of “while acting at the direction and control of PRC officials, has, among other things … report[ing] on the activities of ethnic Tibetans, and others, in the New York metropolitan area to the Consulate” of the Chinese government.

The criminal complaint further states that the officer was “spotted and assessed potential ethnic Tibetan intelligence sources in the New York metropolitan area and beyond.”

“None of these activities falls within the scope of Angwang’s official duties and responsibilities with either the NYPD or the USAR,” the complaint reads.

Angwang is believed to have served two tours in Afghanistan and one tour in Iraq.

Angwang, whose case is headed up by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, is slated to make a virtual appearance in federal court later today.

The NYPD or New York Police Benevolent Association has not commented on the matter.

Editor’s Note: The photo accompanying this story does not depict any individuals mentioned in the article. It is illustrative and not literal.