Ex-Fed advisor gets over three years in prison for lying about China ties
CNBC • • business
Key Points:
- John Harold Rogers, a former senior advisor to the Federal Reserve, was sentenced to over three years in prison for lying to federal investigators about sharing restricted Fed information with Chinese intelligence operatives.
- Rogers was found guilty of making false statements but acquitted of conspiracy to commit economic espionage; he denied sharing sensitive monetary policy data despite evidence to the contrary.
- Prosecutors stated Rogers began secretly sharing Fed information in 2017 with Hummin Lee, a Chinese intelligence operative, in exchange for academic positions and financial benefits.
- Rogers accessed and transmitted nonpublic information on Fed interest-rate decisions, which could have enabled China to profit from its substantial holdings of U.S. Treasurys.
- The sentencing reflects heightened U.S. efforts to combat economic espionage by China, with Rogers ordered to serve additional supervised release following his prison term.
