(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Justice Department announced Friday that a former senior adviser for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors has been indicted for allegedly conspiring to steal trade secrets for the People’s Republic of China.
The ex-Fed official, John Harold Rogers, 63, of Vienna, Virginia, was arrested on Friday, the same day the indictment was unsealed. According to the Justice Department, Rogers a U.S. citizen with a Ph.D. in economics, worked as a senior adviser in the Federal Reserve’s Division of International Finance from 2010 until 2021—giving him access to confidential financial information.
The DOJ alleged that Rogers shared that information with Chinese intelligence agents. Specifically, Rogers gave them info that could allow China to manipulate the U.S. market, in a manner similar to insider trading, according to the DOJ.
“Rogers allegedly exploited his employment with the FRB by soliciting trade-secret information regarding proprietary economic data sets, deliberations about tariffs targeting China, briefing books for designated governors, and sensitive information about Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) deliberations and forthcoming announcements,” the DOJ said in a press release.
“He passed that information electronically to his personal email account, in violation of FRB policy, or printed it prior to traveling to China, in preparation for meetings with his co-conspirators.”
Rogers was paid about $450,000 as a part-time professor at a Chinese university, the DOJ added.
Rogers was interviewed in 2020 by the Office of the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board about his dealings with China. During that interview, he allegedly lied bout his accessing and passage of sensitive information and his associations with his co-conspirators.
Rogers is Rogers was charged with conspiracy to commit economic espionage and with making false statements. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $5 million. He also faces five years for making false statements to the Federal Reserve Board Office of Inspector General.
U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., said the case against Rogers should send a stark warning to any government official thinking about doing business with the enemy.
“President Trump tasks us with protecting our fellow Americans from all enemies, foreign and domestic. As alleged in the indictment, this defendant leveraged his position within the Federal Reserve to pass sensitive financial information to the Chinese government, a designated foreign adversary,” Martin said. “Let this indictment serve as a warning to all who seek to betray or exploit the United States: law enforcement will find you and hold you accountable.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
