Pierluigi Paganini May 03, 2016

A Tennessee Valley Authority senior manager, with access to sensitive information about nuclear development and production admits China paid him for secrets

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been conducting military and commercial espionage for quite some time against the United States, as well as other countries, in an attempt to capture sensitive intellectual property.  Why spend millions upon millions of dollars on creating a new technology when you can steal it for a few hundred thousand dollars?

A Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) senior manager, with access to sensitive information about the nuclear development and production, was arrested over a year ago for providing sensitive nuclear-related information to China.

“Ching Ning Guey has struck a deal to plead guilty to a charge of development of special nuclear material outside the U.S.” reported USA Today “The case, kept under seal for more than a year, is tied to an indictment announced earlier this month against a Chinese nuclear engineer and a Chinese-owned nuclear power plant alleging nuclear espionage.”

The TVA manager, Mr. Ching Ning Guey, provided information to his Chinese ‘handler’, Mr. Szuhsiung “Allen” Ho, who was arrested in April 2016.

Mr. Guey had met Mr. Ho, a Chinese nuclear engineer, at an event in the early 1990s. Mr. Guey was not recruited until 2004.  At that time, Mr. Guey was working for the Florida Power & Light nuclear plant – when he passed nuclear-related information concerning outage times.

Mr. Guey later went on to work at the TVA from 2010 to 2014.  It was during this time Mr. Guey was paid by the Chinese government for three key reports; reports which they were legally barred from having access.

The recent indictment brought against Mr. Ho, charges him, his company, and the China General Nuclear Power with conspiracy to commit espionage.  Mr. Ho was alleged to have attempted luring more than Mr. Guey to provide information on nuclear production programs.  Mr. Guey has admitted to his part in the crimes, and five other unidentified ‘American co-conspirators were listed in the indictment,’ according to USA Today.

Mr. Guey is cooperating with officials and reached a plea deal: admitting his guilt while being granted immunity for other offenses listed in the Ho indictment.  It is anticipated Mr. Guey will be a key witness in the prosecution of Mr. Ho and the other co-conspirators.  Mr. Ho’s trial date has been set for June 27^th.

Written by: Dave Snell

Author Bio: Dave Snell, a retired naval officer, is a Security Professional with twenty years of experience working cyber intelligence, project management, and counter-terrorism operations. 

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – China, espionage)