HR: when good people go bad

Dongfan “Greg” Chung of Orange, California was employed by Rockwell International from 1973 until 1996 when its defence and space unit was acquired by Boeing. He stayed with Boeing until 2002 and, after retirement, came back as a contractor until 2006.

But Chung was not all he appeared to be - for in addition to being a talented aerospace engineer working on the Space Shuttle and the Delta IV rocket projects, he was also - a California Court has found - an accomplished spy for the Chinese government.

Chung was born in China and migrated to the USA where he became a naturalised citizen.

He was found guilty last year after a three week trial and sentenced this week to 188 months in jail so as to send a message to China to "stop sending your spies here." During the trial, the government proved that Chung stole Boeing trade secrets relating to the Space Shuttle and the Delta IV rocket, materials he acquired for the benefit of the PRC.

“Mr. Chung betrayed his adopted country and endangered our national security,” said Acting United States Attorney George S. Cardona.

Steven M. Martinez, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, stated: “The lengthy sentence imposed on Mr. Chung should send a strong message to others contemplating theft of U.S. secrets that such criminal activity is a serious affront to the nation's stability and will be prosecuted accordingly.”

The case against Chung resulted from an investigation into another engineer who worked in the United States and obtained sensitive military information for the PRC. That engineer, Chi Mak, and several of his family members were convicted of providing defence articles to the PRC. In 2008, Judge Carney sentenced Chi Mak to more than 24 years in prison

According to the evidence presented during Chung’s trial, individuals in the Chinese aviation industry began sending Chung “tasking” letters as early as 1979. Over the years, the letters directed Chung to collect specific technological information, including data related to the Space Shuttle and various military and civilian aircraft. Chung responded in one undated letter that “I would like to make an effort to contribute to the Four Modernisations of China.” In various letters to his handlers in the PRC, Chung referenced engineering manuals he had collected and sent to the PRC, including 24 manuals relating to the B-1 Bomber.

Between 1985 and 2003, Chung made multiple trips to the PRC to deliver lectures on technology involving the Space Shuttle and other projects. During those trips he met PRC government officials, including agents affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army. Chung and PRC officials exchanged letters that discussed Chung’s travel to China and recommended methods for passing information, including suggestions that Chung use Chi Mak and his wife Rebecca to transmit information.

A 2 May, 1987 letter from Gu Weihao, an official in the Ministry of Aviation and China Aviation Industry Corporation, discussed the possibility of inviting Chung’s wife, who is an artist, to visit an art institute so that Chung could use her trip as an excuse to travel to the PRC. The same letter suggested that passing information to the PRC through Chi Mak would be “faster and safer” and concluded with the statement: “It is your honour and China’s fortune that you are able to realise your wish of dedicating yourself to the service of your country.”

On 11 September, 2006, FBI and NASA agents searched Chung’s house and found more than 250,000 pages of documents from Boeing, Rockwell and other defence contractors inside the house and in a crawl space underneath the house. Among the documents found in the crawl space were scores of binders containing decades’ worth of stress analysis reports, test results and design information for the Space Shuttle.