NYPD Cop Accused Of Being China Agent Released On $2 Million Bond

WILLISTON PARK, NY — The Long Island NYPD police officer and U.S. Army reservist, who is accused of acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China by gathering intelligence on ethnic Tibetans, has been released on a $2 million bond, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Baimadajie Angwang, 33, was released Wednesday under the conditions that he must remain confined inside his Williston Park home and his location will be monitored by an electronic ankle bracelet, according to U.S. Attorney’s office spokesman John Marzulli. Angwang has been held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Brooklyn since his arrest in September, according to published reports.

His attorney, John Carman of Garden City, said Angwang was “free on the strength of 13 people who believed in him so much” they contributed to a $2 million bond, and he planned to enjoy the evening with his wife and daughter, Newsday reported.

Marzulli declined to comment on Angwang’s release.

In September, federal prosecutors alleged in a 24-page criminal complaint that since at least 2014 officials at China’s consulate in New York City controlled Angwang, who reportedly worked at the 111th Precinct in Queens, having him report on the activities of Chinese citizens, including fellow Tibetans, in the New York area.

Angwang “spotted and assessed potential intelligence sources” in the Tibetan community and elsewhere, and provided Chinese officials with access to senior NYPD officials through invitations to official events, prosecutors said. One official who Angwang acted for worked for a department that is “responsible for, among other things, neutralizing potential opponents” of China and “co-opting ethnic Chinese individuals” living abroad, prosecutors said.

Angwang is also charged with committing wire fraud, making material false statements and obstructing an official proceeding.

In 2019, Angwang lied on his background clearance forms — submitted as part of his job as a U.S. Army reservist — that he had contacts with a foreign government or its consulate, as well as continuing contacts with foreign nationals, including his family members who live in China, who are affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army, prosecutors said.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney called the allegations leveled against Angwang the “definition of an insider threat” because of his occupation.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said state and local officials should be aware that “they are not immune to the threat of Chinese espionage.”

“According to the allegations, the Chinese government recruited and directed a U.S. citizen and member of our nation’s largest law enforcement department to further its intelligence gathering and repression of Chinese abroad,” he said. “Our police departments provide for our public safety and are often the first line of defense against the national security threats our country faces. We will continue to work with our state and local partners to protect our nation’s great police departments.”

If convicted, Angwang faces a maximum sentence of 55 years’ imprisonment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.