US Army intelligence analyst Korbein Schultz charged with selling military secrets to China for US$42,000
A US Army intelligence analyst was arrested on Thursday and charged with conspiring to sell sensitive defence information to China.
Federal prosecutors charged Korbein Schultz with conspiracy to disclose national defence information, exporting defence articles and technical data without a licence, and bribery of a public official, the US Justice Department said in a press release.
Schultz, who was arrested at Kentucky’s Fort Campbell, was paid around US$42,000 to provide an individual he believed lived in Hong Kong with information about US plans in the event Taiwan came under military attack, according to the release.
Schultz put “personal profit above the security of the American people”, Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in the statement.
“Today’s arrest shows that such a betrayal does not pay – the Department of Justice is committed to identifying and holding accountable those who would break their oath to protect our nation’s secrets.”
According to the indictment, Schultz – who had a top-secret security clearance – allegedly conspired with an individual identified only as “Conspirator A” to disclose various documents, photographs and other national defence materials since June 2022.
The indictment claims that Schultz was recruited by the individual not only due to his security clearance but also because he was tasked with gathering sensitive US military information.
Some of the information that Schultz supposedly gave to the individual included information related to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars), hypersonic equipment, studies on future developments of US military forces and studies on military drills and operations in major countries like China.
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The indictment outlines that Schultz was initially asked to provide documents detailing lessons that could be learned from Russia’s war with Ukraine and how those lessons could be applied to the US helping Taiwan in the event of an attack.
Schultz was paid US$200 for that information, which then prompted Conspirator A, to ask for a “long-term partnership”.
Conspirator A, who was described in the indictment as a foreign national purporting to live in Hong Kong, later suggested that Schultz could earn more money if he handed over “internal only” material rather than unclassified documents.
In total, Shultz received at least 14 payments totalling US$42,000.
The case is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions of current or former military members accused of illegally disclosing sensitive government secrets.
For instance in April 2023, Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira was charged with leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games.
He pleaded guilty on Monday in a deal with prosecutors that calls for him to serve at least 11 years in prison.
In August, two US Navy sailors were charged with providing sensitive military information to China – including details on wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical material.
And more recently, the US Justice Department announced charges this week against a civilian Air Force employee and retired US Army lieutenant colonel for allegedly sharing classified information about the war in with Ukraine on a foreign dating site.
Reuters and Associated Press
