A federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted three defendants acting as agents of China, officials stated,
Michael McMahon, 55, of Mahwah, New Jersey, was convicted of acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese agent, conspiracy to commit interstate stalking, and interstate stalking.
Congying Zheng, 27, of Brooklyn, was convicted of conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking.
Zhu Yong aka Jason Zhu, 66, of Queens, New York, was convicted of conspiracy to act as an illegal agent of the PRC, acting as an illegal agent of the PRC, conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and interstate stalking.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, McMahon – a retired NYPD sergeant working as a private investigator – and Zhu knowingly acted at the direction of the Chinese government officials to harass, stalk, and coerce certain residents of the United States to return to China, according to authorities.
This illegal repatriation was known as “Operation Fox Hunt.”
Zheng engaged in interstate stalking of the same victims, leaving a threatening note at their residence.
Tuesday’s verdict follows a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen. McMahon faces up to 20 years in prison, Zhu faces up to 25 years in prison, and Zheng faces up to 10 years in prison.
“The jury’s verdict confirms that defendants McMahon and Zhu knowingly acted at the direction of a hostile foreign state to harass, intimidate and attempt to cause the involuntary return of a resident of the New York metropolitan area to the People’s Republic of China, and that defendant Zheng harassed and intimidated that same person and his family,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “It is particularly troubling that defendant Michael McMahon, a former sergeant in the New York City Police Department, engaged in surveillance, harassment, and stalking on behalf of a foreign power for money.”
As proven at trial, between approximately 2016 and 2019, the defendants participated in an international campaign with members of the Chinese government as part of “Operation Fox Hunt.”
Fox Hunt involved threats, harassment, surveil,aince and intimidate John Doe #1 and his family to force John Doe #1 and his wife, Jane Doe #1, to return to the China.
In or around 2015, the PRC government caused the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), an inter-governmental law enforcement organization, to issue “Red Notices” for John Doe #1 and Jane Doe #1, alleging that the Chinese government wanted both persons on corruption-related charges, officials stated.
Zhu hired McMahon who obtained detailed information about John Doe #1, his wife, and his daughter from a law enforcement database and other government databases, then reported back to Zhu and others, including a Chinese police officer, what he had learned.
McMahon also conducted surveillance outside the New Jersey home of John Doe #1’s sister-in-law and provided Zhu and Chinese officials with detailed reports of what he had observed.
Several PRC officials supervised and directed the operation, including co-conspirators Hu Ji, a Chinese police officer with the Wuhan Public Security Bureau and Tu Lan, a Chinese prosecutor with the Wuhan Procuratorate.
In April 2017, Tu Lan and Hu Ji transported John Doe #1’s then-82-year-old father from China to the New Jersey home of John Doe #1’s sister-in-law to attempt to convince John Doe #1 to return to Chinese..
The testimony established that John Doe #1’s father was brought by a Chinese doctor and charged co-conspirator, Li Minjun, and that while John Doe #1’s father was in the United States, his daughter was threatened with jailing in China.
A co-conspirator conducted surveillance of the home during the visit, wearing night-vision goggles provided the Chinese doctor and the Chinese prosecutor.
McMahon tailed John Doe #1 from the meeting with his elderly father back to his home and provided John Doe #1’s address – which was previously unknown – to the Chinese operatives.
In October 2016 and April 2017, McMahon emailed himself a China Daily News article titled “Interpol Launches Global Dragnet for 100 Chinese Fugitives,” which stated, “Amid the nation’s intensifying antigraft campaign, arrest warrants were issued by Interpol China for former State employees and others suspected of a wide range of corrupt practices. China Daily was authorized by the Chinese justice authorities to publish the information below.”
The article provided a list of photographs and identifying information about Operation Fox Hunt targets by the Chinese government, including those of John Doe #1 and Jane Doe #1.
On Sept. 4, 2018, Zheng drove to the New Jersey residence of John Doe #1 and Jane Doe #1 and pounded on the front door. He and a co-conspirator attempted to force open the door to the residence, then left a note that stated, “If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend ten years in prison, your wife and children will be all right. That’s the end of this matter!”
Previously, three other defendants pleaded guilty in connection with their roles in the Chinese-directed harassment and intimidation campaign.
Zebin pleaded guilty in March 2022 to interstate stalking conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing. Hongru Jin pleaded guilty in June 2021 to conspiring to act as an illegal agent of China and interstate stalking conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.
Tu Lan, Hu Ji and Li Minjun are fugitives.
The FBI New York Field Office investigated the case with valuable assistance from the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Craig R. Heeren, Meredith A. Arfa, and Irisa Chen for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorney Christine A. Bonomo of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are in charge of the prosecution, officials stated.