This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
An economist who advised the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to economic spying charges that prosecutors say could have helped Chinese officials reap enormous profits.
John Harold Rogers, 63, is accused of obtaining trade secrets from his former employer and handing them over to the People’s Republic of China.
Documents he is alleged to have delivered include briefing books, an internal Federal Reserve policy assessment and a spreadsheet containing “Trade Secret Information” to agents working for Beijing.
He is also accused of making false statements to federal investigators.
The information Rogers passed on would have given Chinese officials details on U.S. policy that could allow them to manipulate markets “in a manner similar to insider trading,” prosecutors said.
The prosecutors said the crimes started in 2013.
Rogers pleaded not guilty on Wednesday afternoon during an appearance at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. His plea was entered by his lawyer Stephen Saltzburg.
United States Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh asked if Rogers had understood the accusations against him. He nodded and said that he did.
When the judge asked if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Rogers leaned close to a microphone at the defense table. “No, sir,” he said in a low, raspy voice. He wore orange prison garb, a wrinkled, short-sleeved shirt, baggy pants and slip-on loafers.
For the most serious charge, conspiracy to commit economic espionage, Rogers could be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In a statement issued last Friday, Assistant Director Kevin Vorndran of the FBI Counterintelligence Division said: “Rogers betrayed his country while employed at the Federal Reserve by providing restricted U.S. financial and economic information to Chinese government intelligence offices.”
According to the indictment, Rogers began communicating with a conspirator, a Chinese national working at a University in Shandong, in 2013.
Over the course of a few years, the conspirator paid for trips Rogers would take to China, where he would eventually deliver information obtained from employer under the guise of teaching a class. He was later given a part-time professorship at a Chinese university, for which he was paid $448,160, the indictment said.
Rogers was arrested on Friday at his apartment in Vienna, Va. More than $50,000 in cash was found in the apartment, according to FBI agents. The money belonged to his wife, a Chinese national, the agents said.
His lawyers have argued that he should be placed on bail before the trial rather than remain in jail. He is the primary caregiver of his 6-year-old daughter as his wife lives mainly in China. In addition, they argue he has a medical condition, Type 1 diabetes, that is more easily treated when he is at home.
But he will remain in jail before his trial. Judge Sharbaugh said Wednesday that he posed a “flight risk” and could try and skip bail. The judge cited the argument of the prosecutors, explaining that Chinese officials might try to help him make his escape.
“There’s a potential incentive for operatives in China to assist his flight,” said the judge.
A date for his trial will be set in the coming weeks.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, called the allegation that China was stealing US intelligence “is completely fabricated and malicious slander. We are firmly opposed to it.”
“China always pursues exchanges and cooperation with the United States and other countries on the basis of the principle of mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and promotes cooperation with relevant parties on the basis of abiding by laws and regulations,” he said.
