The Taiwan High Court in Kaohsiung today announced the verdict for three military officers and non-commissioned officers from a certain Air Force radar station under the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China. They were found to be involved in espionage of official secrets and delivering military secrets to a Huang, an underground money lender known to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party, in exchange for bribes. The court sentenced the three individuals to imprisonment ranging from 2 years to 8 and a half years, while Huang’s sister, who worked at a bank, was sentenced to 4 to 10 months for assisting in money laundering and other crimes. The case remains open for appeal.
According to the investigation, Huang, who had fled to mainland China since 2019, was instructed by a man named “Wang Zhiyong,” also known as “Yongge,” dispatched by the Chinese Communist Party, to operate an underground money lending scheme in Taiwan under the guise of a money lending business, targeting active-duty military personnel. He used internet advertisements to approach military officers and non-commissioned officers in urgent need of money.
Huang initially lent money to military personnel through the guise of borrowing and later offered military intelligence, such as information related to the Han Kuang military exercises, as a means to receive rewards. He sought to recruit and gain the cooperation of these military personnel to gather and deliver various types of confidential information, including official secrets, state secrets, national defense secrets, and military secrets, to “Wang Zhiyong.”
Huang’s sister, Huang, was working at a bank during the time of the incident. She assisted in disguising the flow of bribe money paid to military personnel, involving herself in general money laundering offenses. Furthermore, she accompanied her mother to a jewelry store in Zuoying, Kaohsiung, to withdraw over NT$1 million in cash from underground remittance channels without reporting it, leading to charges of specific money laundering offenses.
The Kaohsiung High Court pointed out that Huang, the underground money lender, and others involved in violations of the National Security Act were sentenced after a trial by the deliberation committee. Master Sergeant Hu from the Air Force’s 6th Radar Squadron’s 3D Mobile Radar Unit and Radar Technician, between September and October 31, 2021, repeatedly delivered military secrets and official secrets to Huang and “Wang Zhiyong” and received bribes totaling 205,000 yuan (including 100,000 yuan of debt waived). He was found guilty of delivering military secrets to the enemy and sentenced to 8 years in prison with a 4-year deprivation of rights.
Lieutenant Chen from the Air Force’s 7th Flying Training Group’s Operations Department leaked military secrets in June and July 2022 to Huang and “Wang Zhiyong,” for which he received bribes totaling 100,000 yuan. Additionally, in July 2023, he leaked further classified information to the same individuals and received another 100,000 yuan in bribes. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison with a 4-year deprivation of rights for the first offense and 7 years in prison with a 4-year deprivation of rights for the second offense, totaling 8 years and 6 months in prison and 4 years of rights deprivation.
Master Sergeant Chen committed the crime of spying on confidential information designated for mainland agents by accessing classified records on H electromagnetic signals in an Air Force official’s office, leading to a 2-year prison sentence prior to 12:39 pm on December 11, 2023.