Chinese state authorities are now closing loopholes in national confidentiality rules after discovering that one of their colleagues had been placed in a confidential department. sold state secrets to foreign contacts to pay off its debts incurred from losses on crypto investments.
This incident is prompting Chinese officials to closely assess their confidentiality system to address any weaknesses and prevent a similar situation from occurring.
Leaking confidential information for crypto
China’s National Security Agency ruled that an official working in a state-run confidential unit had been found guilty of espionage. He said the official named Wang Moumou had transferred sensitive information to foreigners.
The Chinese government stated that a person named Wang, who suffered losses from investing in cryptocurrency and owed a huge debt, was lured by foreign spies and sold them state secrets. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Wang has spy funds worth more than 1…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) November 8, 2024
This was reported by the country’s Ministry of National Security. Wang leaked “top secret” and “confidential state secrets” to the other party abroad, adding that Wang received more than 1 million yuan worth of cryptocurrency as part of passing on vital information about the Chinese government.
Chinese officials explained that Wang resorted to such crimes against the state after suffering significant financial losses from failed digital currency investments.
Beginning of espionage
The National Security Agency described Wang as “a good young man in the eyes of his unit and family,” believing that losses from his crypto investments prompted him to look for a part-time job on an online forum.
The Chinese agency said “someone from abroad” communicated with him and offered him work, providing his contact with information such as his unit’s research progress and production tasks in exchange for crypto payment.
Wang agreed to the deal and received a significant amount of digital money for the information he handed over to foreigners.
“Faced with the temptation of money, Wang Moumou’s confidentiality began to fade,” the Chinese ministry said.
According to authorities, Wang was hesitant at first and gave only “a small amount of internal information” to his contact in exchange for payment. However, Wang relented after thinking that “a few photos and a few documents can be exchanged for a lot of money,” something he urgently needed to pay off his debt.
Life imprisonment
Wang will now spend the rest of his life in a state prison after a Chinese court sentenced him to life imprisonment for his crime.
The People’s Court found Wang guilty of espionage after he sold state documents for more than 1 million yuan in crypto.
According to the National Security Agency, every now and then a “secret level document” ended up on Wang’s workstation. They found there was leniency in implementing confidentiality rules in his unit, which allowed him to sneak sensitive documents to “foreign spy intelligence services.”
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