A City of London Police special constable is among three men accused of carrying out surveillance and “hostile” reconnaissance for the Hong Kong intelligence service on British soil.
Chi Leung Wai, 38, who is known as Peter, is a volunteer officer for the force and works as a UK Border Force officer at Heathrow Airport.
He has been charged after an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command with assisting a foreign intelligence service and foreign interference, under the National Security Act 2023.
Wai appeared in the dock at Westminster magistrates court on Monday alongside co-defendants Matthew Trickett, 37, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63.
Trickett is a private investigator, Immigration Enforcement officer and former Royal Marine, while Yeun – known as Billy - is a retired Hong Kong police officer who now works as office manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in London.
All three men are accused of carrying out surveillance operations in the UK on behalf of Hong Kong authorities, allegedly targeted at dissidents of the foreign regime.
It is said the home in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, of one of the alleged targets was broken into on May 1 this year.
District Judge Louisa Cieciora released the three men on bail until a hearing at the Old Bailey on May 24.
The case is being overseen by senior judge Mr Justice Jeremy Baker.
The defendants, who all wore prison-issue grey clothes for the hearing, must now abide by a 10pm to 5am curfew, report weekly to their local police station, not travel internationally and inform police of devices used to access the internet.
They are also banned from contacting a list of name individuals said to be connected to the case.
Wai, of Shellfield Close, Staines-upon-Thames, Trickett, of Clivemont Road, Maidenhead, and Yuen, of Rosebery Place, Hackney did not enter any pleas to the charges.
Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “This operation is not connected to a recently reported Counter Terrorism Policing investigation linked to Russia.
“A number of arrests were made and searches carried out across England as part of this investigation. While led from London, the Counter Terrorism Policing network has been crucial to disrupting this activity and we have worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service since the start of the investigation.
“While these offences are concerning, I want to reassure the public that we do not believe there to be any wider threat to them. This investigation remains ongoing, but now that charges have been brought, I urge people not to speculate or comment further in relation to this case.”
The three men have each been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, contrary to section the National Security Act 2023.
They also face counts of foreign interference, contrary to section 13(2) and (7) of the National Security Act 2023. The foreign intelligence service to which all the charges relate is Hong Kong.
Seven men and one woman who were not charged after being arrested in connection with the investigation were released from custody.
