US court refuses China 'spy' bail

US court refuses China 'spy' bail

Ms Leung is accused of stealing secrets from her FBI lovers

A woman who worked for the FBI and is accused of being a Chinese spy has been refused bail by a United States court.

A judge in Los Angeles said Katrina Leung posed a potential risk to national security and had substantial financial assets overseas which increased the risk of her jumping bail.

Ms Leung, a 49-year-old Chinese-American businesswoman, is accused of stealing classified documents from an FBI agent with whom she had a long-term relationship.

Correspondents say that the scandal could prove a great embarrassment to the FBI and the Republican party, with whom Ms Leung - a Los Angeles socialite - had close links.

The businesswoman denies the charges, arguing that the FBI knew about all the documents she passed on.

Assistant US Attorney Rebecca Lonergan said during the bail hearing on Tuesday that Ms Leung and her husband had access to "huge amounts of money" - reportedly around $1m in 16 bank accounts and $2m in property.

Prosecutors said in court documents that Ms Leung claimed to have more than 2,100 contacts with senior Chinese officials.

But Ms Leung's lawyer, Janet Levine, dismissed suspicions that her client would flee, arguing that after 20 years as an agent for the FBI "the best she could hope for (in China) is life in prison and more likely she would be killed".

Ms Levine said that Ms Leung was a "loyal American" who had been exploited by her employers.

"There was no indication she passed anything on without the complicity and knowledge of the FBI," Ms Levine said. "That was the strategy decision of the FBI - to give her documents, to have her pass them on."

The case threatens to throw up intriguing details of the covert world of espionage.

It was revealed by co-defence lawyer John Vandevelde that Ms Leung's home in San Marino was fitted with microphones and video cameras to allow US agents to spy on her Chinese guests, the Associated Press reported.

According to the New York Times, US intelligence officials fear it could have been Ms Leung who tipped off China about US efforts to bug the Chinese presidential airplane, a case that came to light in January 2002.

Ms Leung's FBI handler, James Smith, has also been charged with gross negligence after allegedly allowing her access to secret documents during debriefing sessions at her home.

Mr Smith was granted bail.

Authorities said that Ms Leung was recruited to work for the FBI in the 1980s and began an affair with Mr Smith.

According to the prosecution's affidavit, she was paid $1.7m over 20 years by the FBI, and operated under a number of aliases, including "parlormaid".

But during this time, the prosecution alleged, she was also working as a double agent for the Chinese government.

Prosecutors said that they found classified documents at Ms Leung's home, including a secret 1997 memorandum about Chinese fugitives.

Network of contacts

The affidavit also said that the FBI secretly searched her luggage when she left for a trip to China in November 2002 and found six photographs of former and current FBI agents.

When she returned from the trip, her luggage was covertly searched again, and the photos were no longer there.

It was alleged that Mr Smith came to Ms Leung's San Marino home, which she shares with her husband and son, for "debriefing sessions".

During the times of his visit, she was able to copy documents from his briefcase which she then passed on to Chinese agents.

Mr Smith was alerted to her duplicity by another FBI agent with whom she allegedly also had an affair, but he continued to see her. Ms Leung was well-known in the Chinese-American community and also had a network of contacts in China.

In 1999 she organised a banquet for then Chinese premier Zhu Rongji when he visited the USA.

She also organised fundraising activities for the Republican party and accompanied a former Republican mayor on a trip to China in 1998.