Capt. Li Tian, an official stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Lakewood, Washington, reportedly began emailing back and forth with a foreign national living in China. He introduced himself as a companion of past Army man Ruoyu Duan, who resided in Hillsboro, Oregon. Tian said he was looking for a work opportunity.
Tian initially sent the other person documents referred to in court records as a” white paper” regarding real estate investments on the East Coast of the United States. With Duan acting as a middle man getting money from a PayPal account based in China, Tian was apparently paid$ 1, 500 for the files.
The recipient in China, whose contact address was based in Hong Kong, inquired to Tian for less “open source” stuff, which would be more difficult to obtain as the letter progressed.
According to court papers filed last week in U. S. District Court in Western Washington and Oregon, that was the foundations of a years-long crime where Tian and another man based at JBLM, Sgt. Duan and other Chinese people were given access to and sold vulnerable U.S. defense information by Jin Zhao.
Among the records reportedly handed over were snippets of technical manuals for operating an ordnance method used on battlefields in Ukraine and copies of PowerPoint presentations specifying the positions of military personnel in a Stryker fight car. In November of that year, Zhao reportedly took pictures of a document that simulated a military training with the People’s Republic of China in video footage from his office at JBLM.
” Do you know how difficult this is?!”? Zhao reportedly attempted to sell another vulnerable military record in China while trying to sell one more of it in October.
” If I were in your place, I did not dare”, the man replied.
Zhao is also accused of selling thousands of dollars worth of “SECRET” difficult drives straight from his DuPont house to someone in China.
Zhao’s indictment alleges that he accepted about$ 15, 000 in trade for gathering information for a co-conspirator purporting to stay in Changchun in Northeast China.
Tan and Tian admitted to accepting about$ 38,500 from two Facebook accounts based in China between June 2021 and April 2023, according to editions of Duan and Tian’s charges. He reportedly received about$ 14, 600 from two addresses on Zelle, a smart payment apps, between June 2023 and July 2024.
The individuals who were linked to the plot communicated via internet, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger. According to the charges, all of their contacts occurred in Mandarin.
Tan and Tian are accused of conspiring to pay a government official and grab government property in U.S. District Court in Oregon. Zhao is charged in U. S. District Court in Western Washington with conspiring to collect, transfer or lose federal defense information, as well as corruption of a public official and robbery of federal property.
In a press release on Thursday, Special Agent Mike Herrington from the FBI Seattle Field Office stated that investigators had gathered additional information and that it is possible that additional charges may be brought against them.
Capt. Li Tian’s alleged involvement
Here’s how court documents filed so far describe Tian’s alleged involvement:
Court records don’t mention any further communication between Tian and the person he was emailing in China with in December 2021 after the person he was emailing with asked for “less open source” material. But the next year he began sending military information to Duan, who had paid him for the” white paper” that was given to the person in China.
Tian emailed Duan links to Google Drives three times in October and November 2022 that contained Open Source Intelligence reports that weren’t classified.
On Feb. 20, 2023, Tian started sending Duan more sensitive information. Duan received more Google Drives that day that contained at least three PowerPoint presentations about the Stryker Brigade Combat Team and the Stryker vehicle via email. One discussed the formations, movements and employment of the team. Another, titled “CAPABILITIES. pptx”, specified the mission and capabilities of the unit. The third set out the positions held by military personnel in the Stryker combat vehicle.
Also sent to Duan that day was a PowerPoint about a Department of Defense social media forum, Army mission requirements and strategy. What was the subject of a fifth PDF email Duan sent? It was titled” stp_91s13. records indicate that because it contained sensitive materials, its markings indicated that it was only authorized to be distributed to U.S. government agencies and their contractors.
The same day, Tian and Duan talked on Facebook Messenger.
” Please provide the technical manuals of the vehicles sent there. It is for writing an article”, Duan said.
” I don’t have access,” I said. Will need to wait until Monday”, Tian said.
Tian requested that Duan send him a list of the models he was looking for. Tian said it couldn’t be downloaded, and it had to be looked up on AESIP, the Army Enterprise Systems Integration Program Hub, which Tian said only” chief” had access to.
Later, Tian claimed that his” supply” had access, and that he called him” a guy from Beijing.” Duan said he would take them out to eat next time. Tian “liked” the message.
Later on in their conversation, Duan appeared to ask Tian if he happened to have technical manuals for German military vehicles, such as a Leopard 1, a tank, or a” Weasel”, likely referring to the Wiesel Armored Weapons Carrier. Tian asserted that he had them without a doubt. Duan instead asked for American vehicles.
According to Duan,” I first want an M 1126 Stryker infantry vehicle, an MI 09 howitzer, and an M2 Bradley fighting vehicle.” ” I saw Armytimes also mentioned the Patriot, but I don’t understand that stuff at all and cannot write anything”.
Tian emailed him links to Google Drives with three PDFs three days later, after Duan offered “500” for the three “teaching materials.” They were related to the Bradley Fire Support vehicle, which is designed for precision target location and assisting in in-direct fire. The two documents were technical manuals, which could only be provided to U.S. government agencies or their contractors. The third was approved for public release.
Duan and Tian had another conversation on Facebook Messenger on February 24, 2023.
” I see that nothing happened after you said you’d ask the chief”, Duan wrote. ” Don’t worry if it can’t be done,” I can find materials on wiki or reddit”.
The key is to avoid trouble, Duan continued. ” It is not easy to get to this point in the army”.
Tian responded,” Downloaded.” ” Don’t be anxious. When I return, I’m out and will send it to you.
The next month, March 29, 2023 Duan messaged Tian that he kept forgetting to give him” the material fees”. He gave “500.” The same day, Duan accepted$ 2, 500 from a PayPal account based in China, and he then sent$ 500 to Tian on PayPal.
Sgt. Jian Zhao’s alleged involvement
Here’s how Zhao’s alleged involvement is described in court documents so far:
Zhao appears to have been looped into the conspiracy by at least April 27, 2023. That was six years after he joined the Army as a unit supply specialist, and three years after he was stationed at JBLM, according to the Army’s public affairs office at the Pentagon.
Over about a week, Zhao allegedly used his personal email to send Duan 13 documents that were excerpts of a technical manual for the HIMARS artillery system used in Ukraine. How he knew Duan is unknown.
Months later, in October 2023, Duan connected Zhao to foreign national living in China, identified in a court filing only as” Conspirator 3″. The foreigner introduced himself over WeChat as a friend of Duan.
” Boss Duan says you have things to sell. Zhao received a message from one of them,” Mind telling what you have.”
In November 2023, another person introduced himself to Zhao over WeChat as a friend of Duan. According to court records, the person who was identified as S. K. K. claimed to have purchased equipment from Zhao through Duan. He said he specialized in this type of business in China, made several million dollars a year and wanted to collaborate.
Then, in July 2024, Zhao and the foreign national Duan he connected with started talking about the sale of an encryption-capable computer. The two talked pricing until Oct. 13 when Zhao received$ 1, 000 for it via WeChat. By December 4, the foreign national had received it.
Also in July, Zhao discussed selling classified hard drives with S. K. K. and sent him a photo of 20 of them. The foreign national was then spoken with Zhao about the hard drives over WeChat. Zhao said he didn’t know the contents of the hard drives and couldn’t guarantee anything. They came to a price of$ 10, 000, with the other half as a down payment and the other half being paid on delivery.
The foreign national confirmed he received them Sept. 12. He later revealed to Zhao that the buyer had only received 19 hard drives, three of which had been damaged. The buyer wanted to pay$ 500 less than what they’d agreed on. Zhao accepted it, but according to reports, he claimed he would never sell to this buyer again.
The next month, Zhao and the foreign national started to talk about the sale of sensitive U. S. military documents. Zhao claimed on WeChat that he had” good stuff” on October 11 and that he had asked the other to get a price quote before naming his price.
” Spread the news. Zhao allegedly said of the document that it was Brigade level.
” Ok. Done. Recall”, the individual in China replied. It takes some time to accomplish this. This is way top]we ] must be very very careful”.
” Very sensitive document. Super difficult to get”, Zhao said.
Tensions appeared to increase as the two settled on a price in a few weeks.
After the foreign national told Zhao on Oct. 22 that a buyer said one of the documents was worth$ 2, 000 and he suggested Zhao sell two documents as a package, Zhao said he wouldn’t consider it.
Zhao remarked, “[Expletive ] this world. ” I’m not selling, brother”.
The foreigner said he would look for “high level people” after making a voice call and would continue to look. The next day, the foreign national still pushed selling the documents as a package. According to reports, Zhao claimed that the second document wasn’t for sale.
” I can’t afford to make this person angry”, the foreign national replied. Don’t act like a boss. At the beginning you did say two documents. You urged me to go find high level individuals yesterday.
The two continued to discuss Zhao sending both documents, and on Oct. 27, video footage from Zhao’s office at JBLM showed him leave the room emptyhanded, then return with two documents he laid on his desk.
One was titled” Strategic and Operation Rockets and Missiles” ( Operation Rockets and Missiles ). It was considered controlled unclassified information, which could only be distributed to the Department of Defense and its contractors. The second document, which contained a command post exercise, was similarly named and listed, and included information on how to improve U.S. combat readiness with international partners.
At 12: 27 p. m. that day, Zhao allegedly told the foreign national via WeChat he was “doing it now”. Then, according to video footage, he was able to scan the first document page by page using his phone.
Later that day, Zhao confirmed he transferred all the documents. Zhao was informed that the foreigner would receive payment in three days. Zhao later received$ 4, 500 in three payments.
Zhao’s office at JBLM video footage captured him photographing a sensitive document and videos of his government computer screen three times over the course of the following month. The document he photographed was about a military exercise simulating a conflict with the People’s Republic of China. On his computer screen, it’s unclear what he was recording. One video he took Nov. 7 was reportedly of an excel file he scrolled through.
Zhao disclosed to the foreigner that he had a “90-page manual” that he was willing to sell for$ 1,500 in December. The next day, Dec. 5, Zhao was told a buyer would aim to pay him in seven to 10 days. And Zhao received$ 2, 000 on December 19.
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