Two Los Angeles residents have been charged with acting in a Beijing-directed scheme targeting U.S.-based practitioners of the Falun Gong group that is outlawed in China, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.
John Chen, also known as Chen Jun, and Lin Feng were arrested in California over allegations they supported Chinese efforts to strip the tax-exempt status of a U.S. entity run by Falun Gong practitioners, the department said in a statement.
A complaint against Chen and Lin was filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, the department said. Reuters was not immediately able to reach them or their lawyers for comment. China's embassy in Washington did not immediately provide comment. The two paid $5,000 in cash bribes and promised to pay substantially more to advance the complaint with the Internal Revenue Service's Whistleblower Program, it said.
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