The FBI Press Release of May 8 provided additional details on the arrest of 53-year old Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a resident of Hong Kong and U.S. citizen who speaks fluent Chinese. Lee was a case officer for the CIA until 2007. After leaving the CIA, Lee resided in Hong Kong. In April 2010, two Chinese intelligence officers (IOs) approached Lee and offered to pay him for information. The taskings allegedly requested that Lee provide documents and information relating to the national defense of the United States. According to the indictment, they provided Lee with a series of email addresses so that he could communicate covertly with them. The indictment further alleges that Lee received taskings from the Chinese IOs until at least 2011. While traveling back to the US, Lee and his family had hotel stays in Hawaii and Virginia. During each of the hotel stays, FBI agents conducted court-authorized searches of Lee’s room and luggage, and found that Lee was in unauthorized possession of materials relating to the national defense. Specifically, agents found two books containing handwritten notes that contained classified information, including but not limited to, true names and phone numbers of assets and covert CIA employees, operational notes from asset meetings, operational meeting locations and locations of covert facilities. Agents also found a thumb drive on which was stored a document later determined to contain information classified at the Secret level. During voluntary interviews with the FBI, Lee admitted preparing the document in response to taskings from the IO.
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