This week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release announcing the unsealing of a criminal complaint in which intelligence officers from the People's Republic of China ("PRC") were charged with attempting to obstruct a criminal prosecution in the Eastern District of New York. According to the press release, Guochun He and Zheng Wang are alleged to have orchestrated a scheme to steal files and information from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York that are related to an ongoing federal criminal investigation and prosecution of a PRC-based global telecommunications company. In furtherance of this scheme, Guochun He and Zheng Wang, among other things, allegedly paid approximately $61,000 in bitcoin as a bribe to a U.S. government employee who worked as a double agent for the FBI and the PRC.
Another recent DOJ press release announced an indictment charging a defendant for his alleged involvement with Raccoon Infostealer, an international cybercrime operation that used malware to infect millions of computers globally. According to the press release, the defendant conspired to use Raccoon Infostealer as malware as a service or MaaS that enabled users to steal data from their victims for approximately $200 per month in cryptocurrency. The DOJ press release noted that the FBI has created a website, raccoon.ic3.gov, "where anyone can input their email address to determine whether it is contained within the U.S. government's repository of Raccoon Infostealer stolen data."
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- Two Chinese Intelligence Officers Charged with Obstruction of Justice in Scheme to Bribe U.S. Government Employee and Steal Documents Related to the Federal Prosecution of a PRC-Based Company
- Newly Unsealed Indictment Charges Ukrainian National with International Cybercrime Operation
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
