(AmericanProsperity.com) – Former New York City police sergeant Michael McMahon was found guilty by a jury on June 20 of serving illegally as an agent of the Chinese regime since 2016. The conviction stemmed from McMahon’s intimidation of a Chinese fugitive residing in the United States in order to coerce him to return to his homeland to face charges.
In Brooklyn, federal prosecutors revealed that the former sergeant was hired by the Chinese regime to monitor Xu Jin, who was living in New Jersey and was accused by Beijing of corruption. McMahon was part of China’s “Operation Fox Hunt”, which is a global repatriation campaign led by China’s law enforcement. Human Rights organizations have criticized this campaign as many of the detainees can’t legally defend themselves and their arrest are usually made unlawfully.
In a statement, US Attorney Breon Peace said that American law enforcement will keep undermining Beijing’s efforts to perpetrate “transnational repression schemes.” However, China’s embassy in Washington responded by saying that the charges against McMahon were based on rumors, adding that China won’t stop in its efforts of repatriating fugitives.
McMahon’s lawyer Lawrence Lustberg said that his client thought he was working for a private company that needed to recover some embezzled funds. He also said that McMahon would have never accepted the job if he knew he was working for the Chinese regime However, prosecutors said that the former sergeant knew that Beijing was behind the push and even had a meeting with a Chinese official who paid him for the job. Prosecutor Meridith Arfa said that this meeting took place in Paramus, New Jersey and that McMahon received $5,000 in cash.
According to different reports, the Chinese official who hired McMahon in 2016 was named Zhu Yong and was also convicted. His lawyer said the defendants were “used” by Beijing, and claimed that people who unknowingly act as agents of foreign companies or governments should never be prosecuted.
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