OAN Staff Avril Elfie
4:50pm – Wednesday, December 18, 2024
A New York City man accused of running a secret police station for the Chinese government in Manhattan's Chinatown has pleaded guilty.
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On Wednesday, Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced that Chen Jinping, 60, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of the Chinese government.
“My office's priority has been to counter the malign activities of foreign governments that target America's local diaspora communities and violate our nation's sovereignty,” Peace said. “Today, on behalf of the National Police of the People’s Republic of China, a participant in a cross-border repression scheme who helped establish a secret police station in the heart of New York City pleaded guilty to conspiracy as an illegal agent. We will continue our efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable people who come to this country to escape the repressive activities of the dictatorship.”
In a press release, Peace said Chen and co-defendant Lu Jianwan, 61, acted as illegal agents of the Chinese government and suppressed evidence of their communications with Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials. He explained that he had obstructed justice.
The announcement also said the men worked together to establish America's first known overseas police station. The illegal police station reportedly occupied the entire top floor of a Chinatown business building until it closed in fall 2022.
Both Chen and Lu were charged with aiding and abetting the establishment and operation of a clandestine facility. However, Mr. Lu has not admitted guilt. Chen also acknowledged that he deleted an online article about the police station for his Beijing counterpart in September 2022.
“I knowingly agreed to act as a foreign agent on behalf of a foreign government,” he admitted to Judge Nina Morrison through an interpreter.
“At the time I committed this act, I had not notified the Attorney General that I was acting as a foreign agent and I was not registered as a foreign agent,” he added.
Court documents note that Lu allegedly assisted Chinese security officials in searching for targeted “dissidents” living in the United States, and that case is still pending.
In October 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant on the illegal business, interviewed two men, and seized electronic devices. Authorities allege that after the pair learned they were under investigation, they tried to cover up the crime by deleting their communications with Chinese Ministry of Public Security officials.
Chen is scheduled to be sentenced on May 30th.th2025. Jangwan has pleaded not guilty and is currently awaiting trial.
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