Author: ABC News
HOUSTON — A Chinese national has been arrested on suspicion of hacking into several U.S. universities’ computer systems to steal COVID-19-related research, authorities announced on Tuesday.Xu Zewei is charged in a nine-count indictment in the Southern District of Texas for his alleged involvement in computer intrusions between February 2020 and June 2021. Another Chinese national, Zhang Yu, was also charged in the indictment.Xu was arrested on Thursday in Italy and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. Authorities said Zhang remains at large.Xu and others are accused of targeting and hacking several U.S.-based universities, immunologists, and virologists conducting research into COVID‑19 vaccines, treatment and testing, according to court documents.“The hacking of these American universities is not just a violation of intellectual property rights. It’s an attack on American scientific innovation,” Nicholas J. Ganjei, the Houston-based U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said at a news conference.Authorities declined to name the universities that had been targeted but said two were located in the Southern District of Texas.Authorities allege that officers of China’s Ministry of State Security, or MSS, directed Xu and others to conduct the hacking.A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.Authorities allege Xu and Zhang were part of a group known as HAFNIUM, that targeted over 60,000 U.S. entities, successfully victimizing more than 12,700 in order to steal sensitive information. One of those targeted was a law firm with offices worldwide, including in Washington, D.C.The charges against Xu include wire fraud, obtaining information by unauthorized access to protected computers and aggravated identity theft. The wire fraud charges carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison.Tuesday’s announcement comes after the Justice Department earlier this month said two Chinese nationals had been charged with spying inside the United States on behalf of Beijing, including by taking photographs of a naval base.
A man with a history of arson-related arrests who is accused of setting a fire that gutted the 250-year-old San Gabriel Mission in Southern California has pleaded not guilty to arsonByThe Associated PressMay 21, 2021, 12:48 PM• 2 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleSAN GABRIEL, Calif. — A man with a history of arson-related arrests pleaded not guilty Thursday to setting a fire that caused millions of dollars in damage to a historic Southern California Roman Catholic mission.John David Corey, 57, is charged with breaking in and setting a July 11 pre-dawn blaze that engulfed the rooftop and most of the interior of the San Gabriel Mission, east of Los Angeles, as it was undergoing renovations to mark its upcoming 250th anniversary celebration.No one was hurt. Prosecutors said the flames caused millions of dollars in damage but firefighters managed save the mission’s altar and historic paintings.Corey, who has been described as homeless, entered pleas in Los Angeles to two counts of arson of an inhabited structure and one count each of arson during a state of emergency, first-degree residential burglary and possession of flammable material.The church was the fourth in a string of Roman Catholic missions established across California by Junipero Serra — an 18th-century Franciscan priest who was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015 — during the era of Spanish colonization.While many credit Serra with spreading Catholicism along the West Coast, he has long been a symbol of oppression among Indigenous activists.Authorities have not released a motive for the arson, although Corey has a history of arson-related arrests in the San Gabriel area.Corey was arrested two days after the fire on suspicion of trying to burn a San Gabriel business. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced that September to three years in jail, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported. Authorities say they later tied him to the church blaze.Court records show he also was sentenced to three years in county jail for setting fire to a dilapidated structure at a construction site and got 50 days in jail for setting a fire in a restaurant in 2015, the paper said.Corey’s criminal record also included convictions for drug use, theft and burglary and vandalizing a house of worship, according to the Tribune.
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