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Fed argue no bail for katrina leung

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   http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5635373.htm

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5635373.htm

Posted on Tue, Apr. 15, 2003

Feds to argue no bail for alleged double agent Katrina Leung
LOUINN LOTA
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Federal prosecutors say it would be a mistake to grant bail to alleged double agent Katrina Leung, saying she has millions of dollars in bank accounts worldwide and ties with top government officials in China, a country without an extradition policy with the United States.

Leung also made "statements to FBI agents during a taped interview on Dec. 18 regarding her willingness to disappear," prosecutors said in court filings.

A bail hearing for the prominent Asian-American and Republican activist was set for Tuesday afternoon. The U.S. government plans to argue that she is an extreme flight risk, according to documents released Monday in support of Leung's detention.

Leung's lawyers argued in their court documents that she should be granted the same $250,000 bail as Smith. She is not a flight risk, they said, but a loyal U.S. citizen who put herself in grave danger by spying on China for the FBI.

"The FBI fed information to her and encouraged her to give it to the People's Republic of China in order to obtain the trust of the PRC and obtain information in return," according to the documents filed by Leung's lawyers.

Leung and retired FBI agent James J. Smith of Westlake Village were arrested Wednesday. Smith, who posted $250,000 bail, was charged with gross negligence in handling documents related to the national defense. Leung, 49, was charged with unauthorized copying of national defense information with the intent to injure the United States or benefit a foreign nation.

Authorities say Smith, 59, carried on an affair with Leung from the early 1980s until his retirement in 2000. During that time, they say, he allowed her to have access to classified documents.

During those years, FBI officials thought Leung was working for them and paid her $1.7 million. Smith was her handler.

According to the prosecution documents released Monday, Leung and her husband, Kam Leung, are also accused of bankruptcy fraud, concealing assets from a federal bankruptcy trustee and making a false bankruptcy claim. The couple, who own a mansion in wealthy San Marino, are also accused of cheating the Internal Revenue Service.

Only Katrina Leung stands accused of the espionage charge.

U.S. prosecutors said they would show that Katrina Leung has in-laws living in Hong Kong and that her mother-in-law has homes in Australia and Hong Kong. She also has a brother whose whereabouts are unknown.

Leung has reported having more than 2,100 contacts with various Chinese officials in the past 20 years and has posed in photographs with the Chinese president and premier, according to the documents. In February, authorities said, she was seen in cars bearing license plates of Chinese diplomats and has been offered a five-year visa to China.

They also said the naturalized U.S. citizen "had the personal telephone number of a high-ranking People's Republic of China official in her personal telephone book."

She also has access to about $872,000 in U.S. accounts and an undetermined amount in at least 16 foreign banks, of which the government could only trace $508,388, according to the prosecution documents.

Leung has been prominently involved in both Republican politics and Chinese-American community organizations.

Documents show she contributed money to such Republicans as U.S. Rep. David Dreier, former Mayor Richard Riordan and unsuccessful GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon.

Dreier named her as a delegate to the California Republican Party convention in February. She accompanied Riordan on a trip to China in 1998 and Mayor James Hahn on another one last year.

Three months ago she was named a director of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council whose members include Walt Disney & Co. Chairman Michael Eisner and former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher.




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