The Federal Reserve Economist Accused of Espionage for Beijing

John Rogers voiced admiration for China before US prosecutors alleged that he sent secrets to Beijing

- Chun Han Wong & Nick Timiraos

John Rogers was visiting Shanghai in May 2013, attending a business forum as a Federal Reserve economist, when he first received an email from an alleged Chinese intelligence agent.

The man described himself as a Chinese graduate student who was interested in learning about the Fed. Rogers says he refused the man's offer to pay him. But they stayed in touch, and later, the man invited Rogers to visit China again, all expenses paid.

This time, Rogers made the trip, setting off a chain of events that led to espionage charges against him in the US—and exposed new details about China's alleged efforts to recruit informants inside US government institutions.

Prosecutors allege Rogers handed over sensitive information to Chinese operatives, who posed as students and who offered to cover travel expenses to China. Rogers met his Chinese handlers in hotel rooms and in some cases shared internal Fed reports, including information prepared for discussions by the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, according to an indictment unsealed in January that accused Rogers of conspiring to commit economic espionage.

Federal Bureau of Investigation officers arrested Rogers in January and found $50,000 in cash at his Washington-area apartment—money that his wife said belonged to her.

Rogers has denied all charges against him, including that he knowingly assisted Beijing. People who know him, and his role at the Fed, say his value to China would have been limited because he wasn't privy to high-level decision-making.

An attorney for Rogers said the government's indictment lacks context and relevant facts that would undercut its implication of impropriety. For example, Rogers doesn't speak Chinese, the attorney said.