 [NPR.ORG] An ex-CIA officer tossed in the calaboose
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
in January at New York's John F. Kennedy airport has been charged with conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of China years after FBI agents turned up notebooks containing classified information in a search of his hotel room.
Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 53, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had a top-secret clearance and worked as a field agent for the Central Intelligence Agency from 1994 until 2007. He was living in Hong Kong at the time of his arrest, and had apparently been the target of an FBI investigation since 2012, when agents searching a Honolulu hotel room discovered handwritten notes on "asset meeting, operational meeting locations, operational phone numbers, true names of assets, and covert facilities" pertaining to China, according to a court affidavit.
After leaving the CIA, Lee worked for Japan Tobacco International, formed his own company and later joined Christie's auction house in Hong Kong, The South China Morning Post reports.
It is not known why the FBI waiting so long after uncovering the notebooks to arrest Lee; however, it is also not clear how frequently he traveled to the U.S., where his eventual arrest took place.
| This article starring: |
|---|
| Jerry Chun Shing Lee | | |
|
