The Los Angeles Post

Former defense intelligence officer arrested by FBI with suspicion of spying for China

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A former US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer, who had top secret security clearance, has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly attempting to give state secrets to China.

Ron Rockwell Hansen, 58, was arrested on Saturday while on his way to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to board a connecting flight to China, the Justice Department said.

Hansen appeared in court Monday and was charged with transmitting national defense information to aid a foreign government, acting as an unregistered foreign agent for China, and bulk cash smuggling. Hansen also allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars for his actions.

Hansen, who lived in Syracuse, Utah, served in the army for nearly 20 years, working as a case officer for the DIA while on active duty from 2000-2006, court documents reveal. In 2006, he retired from the military but continued working for the DIA as a civilian intelligence officer.

Hansen had top secret security clearance while working for the DIA.

Between 2013 and 2017, Hanson frequently traveled between China and the US, gathering information from military and intelligence conferences and providing intel to his sources in China. He also allegedly sold export-controlled technology to his Chinese contacts.

From May 2013, Hansen received at least $800,000 in funds originating from China.

The Department of Justice claims Hansen repeatedly tried to regain access to classified information after he stopped working for the US government, offering to serve as a double agent against Chinese intelligence agencies.

The FBI began investigating Hansen in 2014. Hansen was unaware of the probe, and met with federal agents voluntarily on nine occasions and allegedly disclosed that China’s intelligence services had targeted him for recruitment.

Hansen joins a growing list of former US intelligence officers who have been accused of spying for the Chinese government.

Last month, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee was charged with gathering classified information which he allegedly intended to pass along to the Chinese government.

And last week, another former CIA employee Kevin Mallory went to trial for allegedly selling US secrets to China.