An Ontario university student has pleaded not guilty in a U.S. federal court in a case a prosecutor described as involving “espionage-type activities.”
Weiheng (Billy) Zeng, a Chinese citizen studying at the University of Waterloo, is charged with making false statements following an FBI counter-intelligence investigation. He was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Monday, according to public records reviewed by CBC News.
Court documents say Zeng was questioned by U.S. federal agents as he tried to enter Michigan on Aug. 23 after crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor, Ont.
After three interviews, Zeng ultimately admitted accepting paid “taskings” on behalf of someone he believed was linked to the Chinese government, FBI special agent Robert Holbrook wrote in a sworn affidavit filed in court.
Zeng has been in custody ever since.
Weiheng Zeng was arrested at the U.S. border in Michigan in August and charged with making false statements, amid an FBI counter-intelligence investigation. (Instagram/Billy Zeng)
On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony P. Patti scheduled a bond hearing for next week.
A federal grand jury indicted Zeng last week on a single count of making false statements to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. The move indicates jurors found there are reasonable grounds to believe a crime has been committed.
Reached by CBC News last week, Zeng’s Detroit-based lawyer William Swor declined to comment on the case.
A self-described “photography lover” studying global business and digital arts, Zeng first raised U.S. authorities’ suspicions in April, after an incident captured on security video at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, according to the FBI’s criminal complaint.
At the time, FedEx employees spotted a man taking photos, climbing a forklift and attempting to open a locked delivery truck and a shipping container in the company’s parking lot at the Chicago airport, the FBI agent said in the court document.
When he attempted to re-enter the U.S. in August, Zeng provided conflicting reasons for trespassing and taking pictures. He initially told federal agents it was solely for hobby photography, according to the criminal complaint.
The FBI said in a criminal complaint an unidentified man was captured on security video at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on April 21 taking photos of aircraft. The incident was later linked to Zeng. (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan)
He later admitted the operation was carried out at the request of a shadowy “Chinese contact” who Zeng said he couldn’t identify by name, but said he believed they worked for a Chinese government security agency.
According to court documents, Zeng told investigators his unnamed contact directed him to photograph aircraft and tail numbers, in exchange for $20-30 US per picture.
The criminal complaint also says Zeng recounted trespassing and taking pictures last year at a FedEx facility at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, at the request of the same, unidentified individual.
The allegations amount to “espionage-type activities,” prosecutor Alyse Wu said at a previous hearing in Detroit.
Zeng, who lives in Cambridge, Ont., also outlined to investigators a convoluted system he purportedly used to communicate with the unnamed individual, who paid him via bank transfer in Chinese yuan.
The “Chinese contact” would mail Zeng a new SIM card every four to five months, which he was directed to use in his Huawei cell phone, according to the criminal complaint.
Ontario university student suspected of spying in Canada, U.S. for China
“Zeng, at the direction of ‘Chinese Contact,’ would subsequently destroy the SIM cards, delete the conversations, and delete the photos he took,” wrote Holbrook, the FBI agent.
“The SIM card, which was from China Telecom, allowed Zeng to by-pass Canadian cellular network and connect directly with the Chinese provider network to send text messages to ‘Chinese Contact.'”
A Chrysler Town & Country minivan with Ontario licence plates was seen in a FedEx parking lot at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on April 21, according to an FBI criminal complaint. Weiheng Zeng purportedly tried to re-enter the U.S. in August in the same vehicle. (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan)
A Chinese Embassy spokesperson previously sought to distance the government from Zeng’s case.
“The Chinese side firmly opposes hyping up the so-called ‘China spy threat’ and baseless speculations and smears against China,” an unnamed spokesperson for the embassy in Ottawa told CBC News in an email in September.
Zeng’s sister denied her brother was knowingly involved in espionage for Beijing.
“If my brother is a Chinese spy, then I’m Trump’s father,” Meixuan Wang wrote in a social media post in September.
