A US Army analyst has admitted to charges of conspiring to sell military secrets to China, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Sgt Korbein Schultz was apprehended in March after an FBI and US Army counterintelligence investigation revealed that he allegedly received $42,000 (£33,000) in exchange for providing dozens of sensitive security documents.
The criminal conspiracy is reported to have started in June 2022 and continued until Sgt Schultz’s arrest. He is expected to be sentenced in January.
Sgt Schultz, who had a security clearance granting him access to top-secret information, conspired to gather and share data with someone he believed was residing in Hong Kong, as indicated in court documents.
This individual requested sensitive information on missile defense and mobile artillery systems from Sgt Schultz, according to the records.
In addition to this, Sgt Schultz collected information on US fighter aircraft, military tactics, and the US military’s defense strategy for Taiwan, drawing on insights from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the DOJ’s National Security Division condemned Sgt Schultz’s actions, stating, “By conspiring to transmit national defense information to a person living outside the United States, this defendant callously put our national security at risk to cash in on the trust our military placed in him.”
Sgt Schultz pleaded guilty to all charges against him on Tuesday, which include conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information and bribery of a public official.
The indictment detailed messages between Sgt Schultz and the alleged Hong Kong resident, referred to as Conspirator A in court documents.
In one exchange, Sgt Schultz expressed a desire to emulate the fictional spy character Jason Bourne, saying he “wished he could be Jason Bourne.”
After being promised more money by his handler, he remarked in another message, “I hope so! I need to get my other BMW back!”
The FBI and US Army Counterintelligence Command are continuing their investigations into the case.
Source-BBC
