Feds drop charges against NYPD officer accused of spying for China

Federal prosecutors dropped a case against an NYPD officer accused of spying on a Tibetan immigrant community for the Chinese government.

On Friday, the Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying “the government has received additional information on the allegations,” according to court documents obtained by NBC News. The department did not specify the nature of the information.

The dismissal comes two years after 33-year-old officer Baimadaji Angwan was arrested on federal charges that he was acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government.

Angwang, an ethnically Tibetan who has been granted asylum in the United States, worked as a patrol officer for the NYPD’s 111th Precinct in Queens, where he was assigned to the public relations department, which acts as a liaison between the NYPD and local communities.

Prosecutors said that in 2014, Angwan reported on the activities of ethnic Tibetans, identified potential Tibetan intelligence agents, and used his official powers as a police officer to invite Chinese consular officials to NYPD events.

Corresponding with his “handler,” a Chinese official linked to an organization tasked with neutralizing anti-Chinese opposition, Angwan discussed visiting a community center recently opened in Queens, according to court documents.

“Good or not, you need to know about it for the sake of your work. Now they are the largest venue for events. If they are related to politics, then in the future more than half of the meetings may take place there,” Angwan told the curator, according to court documents.

He also provided Chinese officials with “non-public information about internal NYPD operations,” according to federal prosecutors.

“Let them [superiors in Beijing] I know you recruited one from the police department,” Angwan told Chinese authorities, according to a government memo about the detention.

According to the complaint, Angwang was granted asylum in America in part because of the tense history between the Tibetans and the Chinese government.

The People’s Republic of China occupied Tibet and took control of Tibet in 1951. Since then, Tibetan activists who believe their community is being oppressed and persecuted by China have staged numerous protests.

However, prosecutors said Angwan’s asylum application was based on a lie. According to the memo, despite allegations of torture by the Chinese government, Angwan returned to China on several occasions after alleged abuse.

“These are not the actions of a person who fears torture or persecution by the PRC. [People’s Republic of China]thereby showing that his American citizenship was obtained through false pretenses,” the memo reads.

Tibetan human rights organizations condemned the Chinese government after learning of the arrest in 2020.

“The Chinese Communist Party is engaged in malicious operations to suppress dissent,” the International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement.

According to court documents, in addition to the charge of espionage, Angwan was charged with wire fraud, making false statements and obstructing a formal hearing.

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