US charges former Federal Reserve official with spying for China

A former senior advisor to the Federal Reserve, John Harold Rogers, was arrested on charges of conspiring to steal Federal Reserve trade secrets for the benefit of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Rogers, aged 63 and from Vienna, Virginia, served as a Senior Adviser in the Federal Reserve Board of Governors' (FRB) Division of International Finance from 2010 until 2021. He is accused of sharing confidential information with Chinese co-conspirators, who were allegedly part of China's intelligence and security apparatus and disguised as graduate students.

The charges include conspiracy to commit economic espionage and making false statements. Rogers allegedly exploited his position by soliciting and passing sensitive data regarding proprietary economic datasets, deliberations about tariffs targeting China, briefing books for designated governors, and Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) deliberations. This information was reportedly shared during secret meetings in hotel rooms in China, under the guise of teaching classes at a Chinese university where he was paid approximately $450,000 for part-time work.

Rogers is also accused of lying to investigators from the Federal Reserve's Office of Inspector General in 2020 about his access to and distribution of sensitive information. The potential penalties for these charges are significant, with up to 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine for economic espionage, and up to 5 years for making false statements.

The case is being investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office and the Federal Reserve Board's Office of Inspector General. The indictment was announced by the U.S. Department of Justice, highlighting the severity of the allegations and the implications for national security and economic policy