Federal prosecutors say Ron Rockwell Hansen, a retired warrant officer with the U.S. Army and former intelligence case officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency made more than $800,000 by selling secrets to China before he tipped his hand in trying to recruit a second Defense Intelligence Agency officer. The Federal Bureau of Investigation took Ron Rockwell Hansen, 58, into custody on Saturday while he was on his way to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to get a connecting flight to China. Our intelligence professionals swear an oath to protect our country’s most closely held secrets and the National Security Division will continue to relentlessly pursue justice against those who violate this oath.”

Hasen, facing a 15-count complaint, is accused of attempting to collect and transmit “national defense information to aid a foreign government” while operating an “unregistered foreign agent for China.” The 58-year-old is also accused of smuggling bulk cash and goods from the United States into a foreign country. The justice department says Mr Hansen, who is fluent in Mandarin and Russian, held top secret clearance "for many years" and travelled regularly between the US and China in 2013-17. Between 2013 and 2017, Hansen regularly traveled between the United States and China, attending military and intelligence conferences in the U.S. and provided the information he learned at the conferences to contacts in China associated with the PRCIS. "Our intelligence professionals swear an oath to protect our country’s most closely held secrets and the National Security Division will continue to relentlessly pursue justice against those who violate this oath.”

"The allegations in this complaint are grave as it appears Mr. Hansen engaged in behavior that betrayed his oath and his country," said FBI agent Eric Barnhart from the bureau's Salt Lake City office. Hansen disclosed to the source his ongoing contact with the PRCIS, including in-person meetings with intelligence officers during his trips to China,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Utah said in a statement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States announces the arrest of an employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency whom they have charged with spying on the behalf of China.