Taipei [Taiwan], December 7 : Taipei prosecutors on Friday indicted four former military personnel on charges of selling state secrets to China. The four individuals, surnamed Lai, Lee, Lin, and Chen, have been detained, Taipei Times reported.
According to the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office, the three suspects who were responsible for security at the Presidential Office Building served in the 211th Military Police Battalion, surnamed Lai, Lee and Lin, while Chen served in the Ministry of National Defense's Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command.
"Lai served from August 2015 to November last year, Chen from December 2017 to July last year, Lee from 2018 to February, and Lin from 2021 to August. From the end of 2021 to the beginning of 2022, Lai and Chen were allegedly brought into the scheme by a man surnamed Huang, who is currently wanted, on behalf of China's intelligence agents," prosecutors said.
"Starting in April 2022, Chen used his cellphone to take photographs of classified documents before passing them on to Lai and Chen, or Chinese agents," prosecutors added.
Further the Prosecutors highlighted that between March or April last year and August this year, Chen, using a fake identity, recruited fellow soldiers to spy for China in exchange for rewards, as per Taipei Times.
"From March or April last year to August this year, Chen, operating under an alias, started to seek out fellow soldiers who would be willing spy on behalf of China for rewards, prosecutors said. He forwarded the information of one active-duty soldier to Lai, although the soldier did not agree to join the scheme," prosecutors said.
"Lai and Chen were compensated by the level of sensitivity of information provided to the agents, and how many fellow soldiers they contacted as part of the scheme.In October 2022, Lai was transferred to a new unit, and he referred Lee to his old unit, who continued the scheme by using his cellphone to take photographs of official documents and pass them on to agents, prosecutors added
After Lee was discharged from the military, he introduced Lin to the unit, who continued the espionage activities from January of this year onward, they said.
According to Taipei Times, in total, prosecutors estimated that Lai received NT$460,000 (US$14,194), Chen NT$450,000, Lee NT$664,100 and Lin NT$265,900 as rewards.
The office concluded its investigation and charged the four with accepting bribes in contravention of the Anti-Corruption Act and the National Security Act in exchange for collecting state secrets on behalf of China.
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