The FBI arrested former Nicholls student and New Orleans business man, Tai Shen Kuo, along with two others Monday on espionage charges relating to the passage of classified U.S. government documents and information to the People’s Republic of China. According to Renee Piper, director of University Relations, Kuo attended Nicholls from 1973 to 1979 where he earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting and a minor in business administration.
The FBI also arrested Yu Xin Kang, 33, of New Orleans, and Gregg William Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, Va., in connection with the case, which concerns U.S. military sales to Taiwan.
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Kuo, a native of Taipai, Taiwan, and a naturalized citizen of the United States, with conspiracy to disclose national defense information to a foreign government. Kuo faces life imprisonment if convicted.
In a Department of Justice press release, assistant attorney general for national security Kenneth L. Wainstein wrote, “The conspiracy charged in this case has all the elements of a classic espionage operation: a foreign government focused on accessing our military secrets; foreign operatives who effectively use stealth and guile to gain that access; and an American government official who is willing to betray both his oath of public office and the duty of loyalty we rightly demand from every American citizen.”
The affidavit in support of the criminal complaint states that Kang, a citizen of the PRC and a United States lawful permanent resident alien, served as a conduit of information between the PRC and Kuo.
Bergersen, a weapons systems policy analyst for a defense agency within the U.S. Department of Defense, was charged with being the source of the classified information collected by Kuo.
“Those who comprise classified national security information betray the enormous responsibility and trust placed in them by our government and the American People,” U.S. attorney Chuck Rosenberg said.
According to court documents, the criminal conduct spanned a two-year period beginning in January 2006.
