TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese man who works for the U.S. federal government has been arrested by the FBI for lying about his contacts with the Taiwan Navy and using the pandemic as a cover for his move back to Taiwan.
On Tuesday (Oct. 25), the military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported that 57-year-old Chu Yi-fei (朱一飛), an employee of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who resides in Ypsilanti, Michigan, faces 20 years in federal prison for making false statements about his ties with the Taiwan Navy and falsifying documents when applying for security clearance.
The FBI‘s Counterintelligence Division opened an investigation into Chu in December 2020, after it had been discovered that he had not provided information about the "extensive contacts" he had with officials from the Taiwan Navy and a Taiwanese firm when applying for a three-year stint with the U.S. Navy in the Office of Naval Research Global at the U.S. embassy in Singapore. Among these activities was work as a consultant for a classified naval project.
In addition, Chu had not revealed that from 2020-21 he had lived in Taiwan for 11 months without notifying his supervisor. Although Chu was born in Taiwan, he signed forms declaring that he had renounced his Taiwan citizenship in 2008.
During that 11-month period, Chu "worked remotely from his residence in Taiwan," according to an FBI special agent. An investigation into Chu's emails showed that as recently as 2010, he had a condominium in his name in Taiwan.
The FBI agent said the emails and attached documents also revealed, "sale negotiations, contracts for sale, associated parking sales, and property deeds." The investigation found that Chu had "met repeatedly" with personnel from the Taiwan Navy while acting as a consultant.
Chu also failed to report that he had received a new Taiwan passport and flew to Taiwan in 2020 and visited the country as recently as August this year. Prosecutors said this showed that Chu had concealed his continued status as a Taiwan citizen.
On Wednesday (Oct. 26), Navy Command said that it had not found any matters related to the news report, reported UDN. It declined to comment on the circumstances of the U.S. judicial investigation.
