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John Chen, also known as Chen Jun, and Lin Feng were arrested in
California over allegations they supported Chinese efforts to
strip the tax-exempt status of a U.S. entity run by Falun Gong
practitioners, the department said in a statement.
The department described the scheme as part of a broader
campaign by China's government to target its U.S.-based critics.
The charges were announced a month after federal agents arrested
two New York residents on suspicion of operating a Chinese
"secret police station" in Manhattan's Chinatown district.
A complaint against Chen and Lin was filed in federal court in
the Southern District of New York, the department said. Reuters
was not immediately able to reach them or their lawyers for
comment. China's embassy in Washington did not immediately
provide comment.
Chen and Lin in 2023 attempted to bribe an undercover federal
agent acting as a U.S. tax official to advance a complaint that
would strip the Falun Gong entity's federal tax exemption, the
department said.
The two paid $5,000 in cash bribes and promised to pay
substantially more to advance the complaint with the Internal
Revenue Service's Whistleblower Program, it said.
The bribes were intended to carry out China's aim of "toppling
... the Falun Gong," the department quoted Chen as saying on an
intercepted call. Stripping the entity's exempt status would
increase its federal tax obligation.
Falun Gong, based broadly around meditation, was banned by China
in 1999 after 10,000 members appeared at the central leadership
compound in Beijing in silent protest. The group has called for
people to renounce the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
China's government has described the group as a cult
organization that threatens national stability.
(Reporting by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Grant McCool)
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