July 26 (UPI) — Two people, including a Chinese national, have pleaded guilty to bribing an Internal Revenue Service agent as part of a Beijing-backed scheme targeting the U.S. tax-exempt status of a Communist Party opposition religious movement.
Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that has been banned in China since 1999 and its supporters are considered one of the so-called Five Poisons of the Communist Party along with the supporters of Uyghurs and Tibetans as well as those in favor of Chinese democracy and Taiwan independence.
John Chen, 71, a former citizen of China and a Chino, Calif., resident, and Lin Feng, 44, a Chinese citizen and a permanent resident of Los Angeles, were accused of executing this plan at the direction of a Chinese official starting in January of 2023 through to May of the same year.
Prosecutors said Chen was directed by the Chinese official to submit a false whistleblower report to the IRS seeking to revoke the tax-exempt status of a nonprofit organization run by Falun Gong practitioners.