Italian Police Arrest Chinese Man Wanted by FBI for Cyber Espionage

Udumbara Udumbara
Jul 9, 2025 - 10:08 Updated: Jul 9, 2025 - 09:55
0
Italian Police Arrest Chinese Man Wanted by FBI for Cyber Espionage
.

Italian police have arrested a Chinese man wanted in connection with an FBI investigation into cyber espionage targeting projects including COVID-19 vaccine development, Italian media reported on July 7.

The suspect, Xu Zewei, 33, was detained on July 3 at Milan’s Malpensa Airport upon arrival. He is scheduled to appear before the Milan Court of Appeal on July 8 for a hearing regarding an extradition request from the United States.

Xu is accused of participating in a large-scale cyber espionage operation targeting American universities and researchers, Italian news agency ANSA reported, citing documents provided by the Italian Interior Ministry summarizing the charges.
The FBI alleges that, beginning in February 2020, Xu was directed by the Chinese Ministry of State Security to infiltrate the computer systems of multiple U.S. universities, immunologists, and virologists, specifically those working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Texas. 

The FBI further alleges that Xu was part of Hafnium, a cyber-espionage group operating from China and believed to be backed by the Chinese communist regime.

According to Microsoft’s cybersecurity division, Hafnium has historically targeted U.S. entities to steal information across sectors such as infectious disease research, law, higher education, defense contracting, policy think tanks, and NGOs.
The group drew heightened international scrutiny in 2021 after exploiting flaws in Microsoft’s mail and calendar servers to compromise more than 30,000 organizations across the United States.

By arresting Xu, Italian police executed an international warrant issued in November 2023 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, unauthorized access to protected computers, and aggravated identity theft, according to ANSA. The most serious charge, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Italian Judge Veronica Tallarida of the Milan Court of Appeal validated Xu’s arrest on July 4, according to local newspaper Corriere della Sera. The judge acknowledged a clear risk of flight, noting that Xu had just arrived in Italy and had no ties to the country.

Meanwhile, Xu’s wife, identified as a math teacher in Shanghai, told Corriere that Xu works as an IT technician at a semiconductor company in Shanghai and that the couple had traveled to Italy simply for vacation.

Xu’s defense attorney, Enrico Giarda, confirmed to Corriere that he had met with Xu, who is being held in a prison in Busto Arsizio in northern Italy’s Varese province. Giarda said that in the coming days, the defense may request Xu’s transfer from prison to house arrest while his extradition proceeding moves on.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) declined a request for comment.

The DOJ has accused the Chinese regime of fostering a “hackers-for-hire ecosystem” contracting with private firms and individuals to carry out cyberattacks and information theft to advance the regime’s interests and agenda. This approach allows the Chinese regime to conceal direct involvement.
Earlier this year, the DOJ charged a dozen Chinese contract hackers and law enforcement officials over a years-long hacking campaign to steal data from the U.S. government and undermine critics and dissidents of the Chinese regime. The Epoch Times was a victim of this hacking campaign.
.
Read More