John Chen, a 71-year-old resident of Los Angeles and the People's Republic of China (PRC), has been sentenced to 20 months in prison. The sentence comes after Chen acted as an unregistered agent for the PRC and attempted to bribe an IRS agent. This was part of a plan targeting U.S.-based practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China.
Court documents reveal that between January and May 2023, Chen, along with co-defendant Lin Feng, 44, operated under the direction of the PRC government. Their actions were part of a broader campaign by the PRC to suppress Falun Gong practitioners. In China, followers of Falun Gong face severe repression from the government.
Chen and Feng attempted to exploit the IRS Whistleblower Program to undermine the tax-exempt status of Shen Yun Performing Arts Center, which is affiliated with Falun Gong practitioners. They filed a flawed whistleblower complaint and offered cash bribes totaling $5,000 to an undercover officer posing as an IRS agent. The aim was to further their complaint without notifying U.S. authorities about their role as agents for the PRC.
During recorded conversations, Chen mentioned that these bribes were meant to support the PRC's goal of dismantling Falun Gong activities. The duo discussed receiving instructions from a known PRC official referred to as "PRC Official-1" and planned ways to avoid detection.
On May 14, 2023, Chen met with the undercover agent in Newburgh, New York, where he handed over a $1,000 bribe as part of his scheme. He also promised up to $50,000 for initiating an audit on Shen Yun Performing Arts Center and offered 60% of any potential whistleblower award if successful. Four days later at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Feng provided another $4,000 bribe.
The announcement came from Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen from the Justice Department’s National Security Division; U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York; and Executive Assistant Director Robert R. Wells from the FBI’s National Security Branch.
In addition to his prison sentence, Chen received three years of supervised release and must forfeit $50,000. His co-defendant Feng had previously been sentenced on September 26 to time served—16 months in prison.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Prosecutors included Assistant U.S. Attorneys Qais Ghafary, Michael D. Lockard, Kathryn Wheelock from the Southern District of New York; and Trial Attorney Christina Clark from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.