Chinese intelligence agencies used bitcoin to bribe US officials

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged two Chinese intelligence officers with obstruction of justice for allegedly attempting to bribe a U.S. government official. The law enforcement officer was offered $ 61,000 in bitcoins for stealing documents related to an investigation against Chinese tech giant Huawei.

«The Department of Justice will not tolerate attempts by any foreign power to undermine the rule of law on which our democracy is based,» said US Attorney General Merrick Garland during a press conference. At the same time, the official announced the arrest of two operatives.

«As these cases demonstrate, the government of China sought to interfere with the rights and freedoms of individuals in the United States and to undermine our judicial system that protects those rights. They did not succeed.» -AG Garland

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) October 24, 2022

The Department of Justice claims that the law enforcement operation began in 2019 when two intelligence officers approached a government employee who was a Chinese double agent working for the FBI. According to the DOJ, the offenders, identified as Gochun He and Zheng Wang, allegedly wanted to steal information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York with the agent’s help. The documents that the two officers were allegedly looking for were related to a federal investigation against an international telecommunications company that is legally based in the People’s Republic of China. The influential American media outlet The Wall Street Journal confirmed that this company is Huawei.

As a reminder, China is seeking to bypass the United States in creating its own nationwide cryptocurrency that can be used to pay across Asia. The Asian digital token will be pegged to 13 national currencies, including the yuan, Japanese yen, and South Korean won. Thus, China hopes to strengthen its economic influence on neighboring countries and reduce the risks of possible financial restrictions from Washington. Currently, only 500 million people in China use the digital yuan.