A US defense contractor and former State Department security officer was arrested by American counterintelligence officials on Thursday and charged with spying for China.
The Justice Department said Kevin Mallory of Leesburg, Virginia had sold classified documents to Chinese intelligence agents on trips to Shanghai in March and April.
He could face up to life in prison if found guilty.
The source and content of the documents in question was not divulged, but was characterized as "defense information" for which he received $25,000.
"Your object is to gain information, and my object is to be paid," he told the Chinese in a May 5 message, according to an indictment.
Mallory, 60, is a fluent Mandarin speaker who had served in the US army, then as a special agent for the security service of the State Department, before becoming a contractor to various government agencies.
Read the full story at SpaceDaily