US soldier pleads guilty to selling secrets to China

A US Army analyst has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to sell military secrets to China, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has said.

Sgt Korbein Schultz was arrested in March after an investigation by the FBI and US Army counterintelligence alleged that he was paid $42,000 (£33,000) in exchange for dozens of sensitive security records.

The criminal conspiracy began in June 2022 and continued up until his arrest, officials said.

He is scheduled for sentencing in January. 

Sgt Schultz, who held a security clearance to access top secret information, conspired to collect data with someone whom he believed to be living in Hong Kong, according to court documents.

The purported Hong Kong resident asked Sgt Schultz to collect sensitive data related to missile defence and mobile artillery systems, according to court records.

Sgt Schultz also collected data on US fighter aircraft, military tactics, and the US military’s defence strategy for Taiwan, based on what it learned from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“By conspiring to transmit national defence information to a person living outside the United States, this defendant callously put our national security at risk to cash in on the trust our military placed in him,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the DOJ’s National Security Division said.

Sgt Schultz on Tuesday pleaded guilty to all charges against him, including conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information and bribery of a public official.

The indictment against Sgt Schultz earlier detailed messages he sent to the supposed Hong Kong resident, who was referred to in court documents as Conspirator A.

In one exchange, Sgt Schultz said he "wished he could be Jason Bourne" in reference to the fictional spy character.

After being promised more money from his handler, he said in another message: "I hope so! I need to get my other BMW back!".

The FBI and US Army Counterintelligence Command are continuing investigations into the case.