Court papers in the case identified the reactor technology as linked to the Virginia-class attack submarine.
NAVY NUCLEAR ENGINEER ESPIONAGE CODE
postage stamps and a postal bar code with a return address in Pittsburgh.Īs to why the foreign intelligence did not pursue the spying officer, analysts say the foreign nation may have not needed the submarine secrets or may have considered the offer part of a counterintelligence “dangle” operation. The package was described as a brown envelope with four U.S. Navy documents, a letter containing instructions, and an SD card containing specific instructions on how Country 1 should respond using an encrypted communication platform, and additional documents.” by an unidentified subject in an attempt to establish a covert relationship,” states the 23-page criminal complaint from Mr.
“On or about December 20, 2020, the FBI’s attache in Country 1 obtained a package representatives from Country 1 had received in April 2020 through a mail carrier from the U.S. Toebbe’s letter to the foreign nation was pivotal. After the letter was obtained by the FBI in December 2020, an extensive counterintelligence sting operation involving encrypted email exchanges, dead drops involving an SD memory card with secrets hidden in a sandwich, covert encrypted communications exchanges, a message displayed on a foreign nation’s building in Washington and the transfers of funds using untraceable cryptocurrency.Īccording to the FBI affidavit, the most detailed explanation of fact in the case, Mr. The case had many trappings of an espionage novel. The sting operation also involved the FBI placing a signal on the facility of the foreign nation, suggesting it was a friendly power cooperating with the FBI. The naval engineer at one point in his communications said he would look forward to one day having a glass of wine with his foreign agent, suggesting France may be the country. Toebbe’s response to an FBI undercover agent posing as an agent of Country 1. Australia is expected to acquire nuclear submarines in a recent deal with the United States and Britain.Īnother possible clue as to the identity of the country involved in the operation was Mr. Only six nations operate nuclear submarines: the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China and India. Toebbe’s letter to the FBI in that country, something the Chinese intelligence service would be unlikely to do. Evidence that China may not have been the target of the espionage offer includes the fact that instead of accepting the proffered nuclear submarine secrets, representatives of “Country 1” instead gave Mr. The signs are not all clearly pointing to Beijing, however. FBI counterintelligence agents traditionally remain tasked with working cases in their geographical area of expertise. The cases involved West Virginia university professors Qingyun Sun and James Patrick Lewis.īoth academics pleaded guilty in cases traced to China’s Thousand Talents Program, a Beijing government program that critics say was used to recruit American university professors to obtain advanced technology and other know-how for China’s military-civilian development. Van Tromp along with two other federal agents received the Justice Department award in 2020 for work on two successful prosecutions of China-related criminal cases. The FBI agent who signed the affidavit was Jason Van Tromp, with the bureau’s Pittsburgh office, who has won awards for his work on Chinese counterintelligence cases. The FBI affidavit laying out the case provides the sole public clue linking China to the case. I believe this information will be of great value to your nation.
“Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency. “I apologize for this poor translation into your language,” the letter stated. “The Chinese government steals staggering volumes of information and causes deep, job-destroying damage across a wide range of industries-so much so that … we’re constantly opening new cases to counter their intelligence operations, about every 12 hours or so,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said earlier this month.Īccording to a criminal complaint in the case, an FBI legal attache in an undisclosed foreign country obtained an April 2020 letter and documents with a spying offer that would later be traced to Jonathan Toebbe.
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