US officer sentenced to 4 years after failing to disclose contact with China

US Naval flight officer sentenced to four years after failing to disclose contact with a shadowy Chinese citizen.

A naval flight officer was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday for failing to disclose the nature of his relationship with a Chinese citizen for a security clearance background investigation, among other things.

Lt. Fan Yang, who operated in the back of P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft for anti-submarine warfare missions, routinely concealed from the Navy his connection to Songtao Ge, who owned a company that exported military-style inflatable boats and other equipment to China, according to the Justice Department.

Prior to joining the Navy, Yang established online communication with Ge, and the two met in person while Yang was in flight school in 2013, the Justice Department said.

Yang also advised Ge to hire his wife, Yang “Yuki” Yang, at Ge’s company, Shanghai Breeze Technology Co. Ltd., in 2016. The company took on Yuki Yang, and she was paid more than $300,000 from the company, Ge’s executive assistance and the company’s creditors, the Justice Department said. Furthermore, the funds were regularly routed through BQ Tree LLC — the Yang’s family company.

Yang also purchased firearms on behalf of Ge on two occasions: once in 2017, and again in 2018. The Justice Department said Yang inaccurately stated the firearms were for himself when filing a Firearms Transactions Record for the firearms.

Yang also misled the Navy about spending time with Ge. When he asked his chain of command for time off in 2018, he said he was going to “Disney” to spend time with family. In reality, he and Yuki Yang were in Nebraska with Ge.

A plea hearing for Diana Toebbe is scheduled for Friday morning in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia, according to a court notice.

Yang did not reveal the nature of his relationship with Ge in 2019 while he was serving as a tactics instructor at the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Weapons School in Jacksonville, Florida, for a background questionnaire required to renew his top secret security clearance. The document required Yang to provide information delineating any close or continued contact with foreign nationals.

“The evidence at trial showed that although Ge employed Yang [Yuki] Yang, had been to the Yangs’ home, and had paid for the Yangs to travel and visit him,” the Justice Department said in a news release Wednesday. “Fan Yang consistently hid their relationship from the Navy.”

“Yang failed to disclose the extent of his contacts with Ge, and hid that he had maintained a bank account in China, sometimes worked for his family business, BQ Tree LLC, and possessed an expired Chinese passport,” the Justice Department said.

Yang was also sentenced for conspiring to violate U.S. firearms laws, and making false written statements to federally licensed firearms dealers when purchasing the weapons, the Justice Department said.

A federal jury convicted Yang in November 2021.

Source: Naval Times