Exclusive | Arrested ex-CIA agent was fired from tobacco firm after suspicions he was spying for China
Former executive at Japan Tobacco International tells the Post Jerry Chun Shing Lee was fired after they suspected he was leaking sensitive information to China
Suspicions emerged after shipments were unexpectedly seized by Beijing and a contract investigator was imprisoned on the mainland.
While at the time we could not prove it, we suspected he was leaking the details of our investigations into counterfeiting and smuggling
After his arrest in New York, Lee, 53, is being held on charges of unlawful retention of national defence information. Specifically he is alleged to have kept hold of notebooks containing sensitive information when he left the agency.
Some have linked him to what has been considered one of the US government’s most serious intelligence failures of recent years, after several informants in China were killed or imprisoned.
“We became aware of problems with Jerry within a year of his starting with the company,” the former Japan Tobacco International executive told the Post.
“While at the time we could not prove it, we suspected he was leaking the details of our investigations into counterfeiting and smuggling – including those conducted in cooperation with Western law enforcement agencies and targeting highly sophisticated organised crime syndicates and North Korea – to the mainland authorities.”
According to this manager, after Lee – also known as Zhen Cheng Li – became aware of the details of some cases, operations would take unexpected turns.