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Home News Former Federal Reserve Official Indicted In Espionage Case Involving China

Former Federal Reserve Official Indicted In Espionage Case Involving China

by Celia

Federal authorities have arrested a former senior adviser to the Federal Reserve for allegedly providing inside economic information to China.

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A grand jury has indicted John Harold Rogers, 63, of Vienna, Virginia, for stealing Federal Reserve trade secrets and selling them to Chinese intelligence officials for at least $450,000. Rogers is also accused of lying to Federal Reserve investigators and officials from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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The Department of Justice announced Rogers’ indictment and arrest on Friday. He made his first appearance in a Washington court the same day. Rogers is being held without bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, according to court records.

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Rogers’ attorney, Jonathan Gitlen, said via email on Saturday that “Dr. Rogers denies the allegations as set forth in the indictment.” Gitlen added that Rogers will provide further comments “at a later date.”

Kevin Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, said in a statement that Rogers “betrayed his country while employed at the Federal Reserve by providing restricted U.S. financial and economic information to Chinese government intelligence officers.” Vorndran added that the information “could allow adversaries to illegally gain a strategic economic advantage at the expense of the U.S.”

The Justice Department stated that the information “could allow China to manipulate the U.S. market” in a manner similar to insider trading. The department noted that as of October 2024, China held about $816 billion in U.S. foreign debt. Chinese financial players could benefit from advance knowledge of U.S. economic policy, such as changes in federal funds rates, when making decisions about buying and selling U.S. debt instruments.

Rogers, a U.S. citizen with a Ph.D. in economics, worked for the Federal Reserve from 2010 until 2021. During his tenure, he had access to a range of classified information.

Prosecutors allege that Rogers began communicating with two Chinese co-conspirators as early as 2013. The indictment states that Rogers forwarded protected information to his personal email or made print copies to pass along to his co-conspirators. The information allegedly included proprietary economic data, analysis, briefing books for Federal Reserve governors, details of Federal Open Market Committee deliberations, and accounts of conversations about tariffs targeted at China.

Rogers is accused of meeting his co-conspirators in China multiple times under the guise of being an academic instructor. The indictment alleges that in 2023, Rogers received $450,000 for serving as a part-time professor at a Chinese university.

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