US jails two Chinese nationals for spying
Liren Lai and Yuance Chen admitted to facilitating 'dead drop' cash payments worth at least $30,000 to people in the US.
Two Chinese nationals have been jailed in the United States after admitting to trying to recruit US military service members to spy for Beijing.
Liren “Ryan” Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, were each sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement on Friday.
The men sought to arrange “dead drop” cash payments in exchange for information related to US national security, the statement also said.
In May 2022, they facilitated a secret cash payment of $10,000 from China, ordering US-based individuals to drop the cash at a specified location for collection by someone else, an arrangement known as a “dead drop”.