US Think Tank Director to Be Extradited, Charged With Acting as Chinese Agent

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Sep 11, 2024 - 10:04 Updated: Sep 11, 2024 - 02:24
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US Think Tank Director to Be Extradited, Charged With Acting as Chinese Agent

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The defendant allegedly tried to facilitate weapons sales from Chinese companies to Libya, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates.

The head of a U.S. think tank who was indicted last year for acting as a Chinese agent has been re-arrested after fleeing while on bail, according to prosecutors.

Gal Luft, a dual U.S.–Israeli citizen and co-director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, will be extradited in the coming weeks or months, prosecutors said in a court filing on Sept. 9, without saying when or where he was re-arrested.

He was initially arrested in Cyprus on Feb. 17 last year but fled after being released on bail pending extradition, according to the court filing.

A day after his arrest, he wrote on social media platform X that the charges against him were “politically motivated.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed an eight-count indictment against Luft in July last year, accusing him of engaging in “multiple international criminal schemes” lasting several years. The charges against him have included illicit arms trafficking, making false statements to federal agents, willfully failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and evading Iranian oil sanctions.
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Luft allegedly struck a deal worth $350,000 per year with the head of Hong Kong-based nongovernmental organization China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), which was affiliated with China’s state-run oil and gas conglomerate CEFC China Energy, according to the indictment. CEFC China Energy is now defunct after declaring bankruptcy in 2020.

In 2016, Luft allegedly agreed to “covertly recruit and pay” a former high-ranking U.S. official who was an adviser to then-President-elect Donald Trump to “publicly support certain policies with respect to China.”

Prosecutors also alleged that Luft had created a written “dialogue” between the CEFC head and the same U.S. official, which was published in Chinese online media and sent to multiple U.S. universities.

Luft also allegedly worked to broker illicit arms sales from Chinese companies to Libya, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates. According to prosecutors, he attempted to facilitate sales of anti-tank launchers, grenade launchers, and mortar rounds to Libya; sales of aerial bombs and rockets to the United Arab Emirates; and sales of unmanned aerial vehicles to Kenya.

Luft was also accused of attempting to broker deals for Iranian oil, allegedly directing an associate to refer to the petroleum as “Brazilian” oil instead, according to the indictment.

“He also assisted in setting up meetings between Iranian representatives and CEFC China [Energy] for the purpose of discussing oil deals, all in violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act,” the indictment reads.

According to a report on Iran’s oil exports published by the Congressional Research Service, Iranian petroleum exports “reportedly hit a record” in the first quarter of this year, with “almost all” of the exports going to China.

“China’s increasing imports of Iranian petroleum may demonstrate that [China]-based buyers have concluded that the economic benefits of continuing to buy Iranian petroleum exceed the risks of potential U.S. sanctions for several potential reasons,” the report reads.

In February, the DOJ unsealed a case related to the sales of Iranian petroleum to “government-affiliated buyers in China.”

Once Luft is extradited, he will appear in the Southern District Court of New York and be asked to enter a plea.

Recently, the DOJ has brought several cases against alleged Chinese agents.

A former deputy chief of staff to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was charged and arrested on Sept. 3. Intelligence experts said the case has exposed U.S. state-level security woes.
In August, the DOJ announced charges against two Chinese Americans for allegedly acting as spies for China’s top intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS). Masquerading as pro-democracy activists, the two defendants allegedly collected information on Chinese dissidents in the United States and shared their findings with MSS agents, according to prosecutors.

The Epoch Times contacted the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security for comment but didn’t receive a reply by publication time.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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