Arrested ex-CIA agent went from spy agency to investigating counterfeit cigarettes in Hong Kong, sources say

Detained CIA agent Jerry Chun Shing Lee went from being an operative in the world’s top spy agency to investigating counterfeit cigarettes in Hong Kong, sources have told the Post. He later went on to set up his own company to do similar work, before joining auction house Christie’s. According to a security source with several decades of experience in the sector, Lee worked for Japan Tobacco International after he left the CIA in 2007. “He worked for the investigations team, which involved looking for people who smuggled and counterfeited tobacco,” the source said. Lee, who is also known as Zhen Cheng Li, was with the multinational firm only for “one or two years”. Then, “there was a fall out between him and his boss. He eventually got fired,” the security expert said. According to the source, Lee worked for David Reynolds, who had been a CIA agent between 1988 and 2002, and a US consular officer in Guangzhou in the following two years. Reynolds then joined Japan Tobacco International in Hong Kong as vice-president of global brand integrity, a role he held from 2004 to 2010. In an email response, a spokeswoman for the Japan Tobacco International press office confirmed that “Lee was a JTI employee for a short period of time”. But she said the company could not release “any personal information about current or former employees without their permission”. CIA spy-killing claims ‘show China’s strength in counter-espionage’ Lee was arrested on Monday night at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, after he had flown there from Hong Kong, on charges of unlawful retention of national defence information. He made an initial court appearance on Tuesday afternoon in the Eastern District of New York. Suspicions have been raised that Lee – who was a CIA agent from 1994 to 2007 – might have played a key role in Beijing’s dismantling of the American spy network in China, although he is not facing any charges related to such allegations. The New York Times reported that some investigators believed Lee had left the CIA discontented after his career plateaued, and begun spying for China. Although Lee did not hold the job with Japan Tobacco International for long, he did not seem to have run into financial problems. The security source said he had “quite a lot of money in his hand”. Photos emerge of arrested ex-CIA agent who worked at Christie’s Hong Kong “I don’t know where that came from,” the source said, despite acknowledging that Lee was receiving a high salary with the multinational. “But I believe that Jerry had some connections to intelligence in China,” the expert said, using Lee’s English name. The same source said that Lee later set up a company in Hong Kong. “He was going to get contractor’s work to investigate the smuggling of cigarettes. He invested something like HK$3 million in this company. That’s quite a lot of money.” The firm, according to the expert, was based in Kowloon and eventually closed down. “One day, he disappeared … I think that was around 2012,” he said. That was the year when, according to court documents, Lee and his family travelled to the US, and his luggage was searched by FBI agents. It was found at the time that Lee held two notebooks with names of CIA undercover agents and other classified information. Arrest of ex-CIA agent fuels Hong Kong’s reputation as spy hotbed In the past nearly two years, Lee – who had meanwhile returned to Hong Kong – worked for Christie’s. “We can confirm we have suspended a Hong Kong employee pending a criminal investigation,” global head of communications for the auction house Catherine Manson said. “This person’s role, which he occupied for the last 20 months, was focused on physical security for Christie’s facilities and staff. This role was not linked to data security or IT functions at the company.” Manson also noted that “the allegations significantly predate his employment with the company” and that “Christie’s has no involvement in this matter”. Another security source based in Hong Kong, who had a business meeting with Lee while he was working at the auction house, said Lee “was not the type of person to boast about his previous achievements. He did not mention that he had been in the US army or anything. Well, that’s normal behaviour for an agent.” Was Rupert Murdoch’s ex-wife Wendi Deng spying for the Chinese? US intelligence officials reportedly warned Jared Kushner she might be The source added: “My impression was that he could not care less about this job [at Christie’s] … It was probably just a cover, not his real job.” According to the same source, someone in Lee’s position with Christie’s could make between HK$30,000 and HK$60,000 a month salary. The source said that this case could be taken as a cautionary tale. “People in Hong Kong should be more aware of the companies they hire,” the source noted. Another source familiar with Christie’s Hong Kong operations said Lee did not behave unusually or stand out in any way, apart from being physically quite big. One person said that as Christie’s head of security, Lee was in charge of keeping consignments safe during shipment and when they were on public display. “He was in charge of crowd control and the security of objects,” the source said. It would have meant he had the most expensive painting ever sold under his watch last October, when Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi was shown in Christie’s Hong Kong gallery ahead of its US$450 million sale in New York in November. The source also said he was easy to deal with, so much so that he would come across almost as lax sometimes. “Heads of security are usually very fierce. He wasn’t. He wasn’t that picky about the details of security arrangements,” the source said. Photos have meanwhile emerged showing Lee standing in a salesroom wearing a blue suit and an earpiece with the company’s name in the background. The US Consulate in Hong Kong did comment on the matter, referring questions to the US Department of Justice. “As a rule, we don’t comment on ongoing investigations,” a spokeswoman said. Additional reporting by Enid Tsui