A former US military helicopter pilot has been jailed for selling secrets to the Chinese government.
Shapour Moinian, 67, from San Diego,
California, was jailed for 20 months after he was paid thousands of dollars by the Chinese to pass them confidential information.
The pilot-turned-defense contractor became the latest in a string of Chinese spies uncovered in the military.
He handed over US secrets for Chinese money to the tune of $32,000 over at least three years.
Just last month the Biden administration unveiled charges against 13 Chinese spies in an explosive press conference while accusing
Beijing of 'interfering with the rights and freedoms' of Americans.
Attorney General Merrick Garland led a press conference announcing the law enforcement actions alongside Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco,
FBI Director Christopher Wray, and officials from the Eastern District of New York and
New Jersey attorneys offices.
Retired US Army helicopter pilot Moinian pleaded pleaded guilty earlier this year to selling classified aviation technology secrets to
China for up to $32,000.
He admitted in federal court to acting as an agent for the Chinese government and providing President
Xi Jinping's regime secret aviation-related information from his defense-contractor employers.
Moinian also pleaded guilty to making related false statements during national security background checks.
The former US Army helicopter pilot was born and raised in Iran but immigrated to the US when he was 21.
Less than five years after he arrived he joined the military and served in the army from 1977 to 2000 in the United States, Germany, and South Korea.
As part of the plea agreement, federal prosecutors recommended a sentence of no more than 20 months.
Moinian traveled to Hong Kong in 2017 where he allegedly agreed to provide information related to multiple types of aircraft designed in the US in exchange for approximately $10,000.
At that meeting and all subsequent meetings Monian knew those attending were employed by the Chinese government, according to his plea agreement.
When he returned to the US he began gathering aviation-related materials, transferring it to a memory stick.
In September that year, he met with Chinese government officials and gave them the hard drive, which included proprietary information from a cleared defense contractor (CDC).
He then arranged for payment through the South Korean bank account of his stepdaughter.
Moinian told his stepdaughter that these funds were payment for his consulting work overseas and instructed her to transfer the funds to him in multiple transactions.
Moinian also received a cell phone and other equipment from these individuals to communicate with them and aid in the electronic transfer of materials and information.
At the end of March 2018, Moinian traveled to Bali and met with these same officials again. Later that year, he began working at another CDC.
During this timeframe, the same people in China transferred thousands of dollars into the South Korean bank account of Moinian's stepdaughter, who subsequently wired the funds to Moinian in multiple transactions.
In August 2019, Moinian traveled again to Hong Kong and met with these same officials where he was again paid approximately $22,000 in cash for his services. Moinian and his wife smuggled this cash back into the United States.
According to his plea agreement, Moinian also admitted that he lied on his government background questionnaires in July 2017, and March 2020, when he falsely stated that did not have any close or continuing contacts with foreign nationals and that no foreign national had offered him a job.
After his time in the Army, he worked for various cleared defense contractors in the United States – including in San Diego – as well as the Department of Defense.
'Cleared' is a term that indicates a contractor is permitted to work on projects that involve classified information.
According to his plea agreement, while Moinian was working for a cleared defense contractor, or CDC, on various aviation projects used by the U.S. military and U.S. intelligence agencies, he was contacted by an individual in China who claimed to be working for a technical recruiting company.
This person offered Moinian the opportunity to consult for the aviation industry in China.