Two men have been sentenced after being found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service.
An investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing found they were illegally gathering information for the benefit of Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.
Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 41, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Thursday, 18 June to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment. Chung Biu Yuen, 66, was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment.
The pair were disrupted when police arrested a group of people who were carrying out activity targeting a woman based in Pontefract, who was being accused by her former employer in Hong Kong of fraud.
They were both found guilty on 7 May of assisting a foreign intelligence service, an offence under the National Security Act (NSA), 2023.
The jury were unable to reach a verdict on another NSA offence of foreign interference.
Wai was also found guilty of misconduct in public office – relating to the misuse of Home Office systems he accessed while working as an officer in Border Force. He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for the NSA offences and four years, to be served consecutively, for the misconduct in public office
In May 2024, nine people were arrested after breaking into a flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. The flat belonged to a woman who had moved to the UK from Hong Kong in 2023.
The woman had been accused of fraud by her former employer in Hong Kong, although the woman denied this and said that she had been set up.
The day before the break in, a group of people including Wai, the woman's former boss, a man called Matthew Trickett and two former Hong Kong police officers, turned up at the flat.
They attempted to get her to open the door by pretending to be maintenance workers, and poured water underneath her door, to try to convince her there was a water leak.
After there was no response, the group decided to try and force entry. Counter Terrorism Police Officers arrived and arrested them. Yuen was also arrested in London.
Wai, Yuen and Trickett were charged and the other released while the investigation was carried out.
The investigation analysed messages between Wai, Yuen and Trickett, as well as some of the others who were arrested in Pontefract. Detectives discovered that Yuen, in his role as an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), was in contact with individuals linked to the Hong Kong authorities. Yuen then tasked Wai with spying and surveillance activities focusing on UK-based pro-democracy campaigners.
It was also discovered that Wai had been abusing his position as a Border Force officer to access the files of Chinese and Hong Kong nationals in the UK.
Yuen, Wai and Trickett were all charged on 12 May, 2024. However, on 19 May 2024, Trickkett was found dead in a carpark in Maidenhead. An inquest into the death is due to take place following the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, which led the investigation said: “Wai and Yuen were targeting pro-democracy campaigners here in the UK and sending highly sensitive details about them and their families to the Hong Kong authorities.
“Our investigation, along with the convictions and sentences show how seriously this kind activity is taken in the UK and that it will not be tolerated. It should also serve as a warning to anyone else who might consider doing similar that it is simply not worth it and that when you are caught, you will likely face a lengthy prison sentence.
“I also hope this outcome reassures those living in the UK who may be concerned about being targeted by any foreign state, that we will take action to stop this from happening and that we will do everything we can to help keep them safe.”
