Inside Man: How Chinese spies used lies, love and betrayal to target the Federal Reserve

John Harold Rogers was walking Prada, his tiny spaniel, past a school bus stop in his suburban Washington neighborhood when FBI agents surrounded him. They handcuffed the former senior Federal Reserve official and took him into custody to face charges of spying for China.

An agent took Prada's leash, and investigators from multiple federal agencies began an intensive search of Rogers' house.

The now 65-year-old economist was arrested in January 2025, days before he was set to travel to China with his wife, a Chinese national, and their 6-year-old daughter. Investigators believed that Rogers passed information about the Fed to a Chinese government spy, who, over more than a decade, helped him with his career, his finances and his marriage to a woman 24 years his junior.

Rogers' descent from senior Fed official to espionage suspect appears to have been driven by his desire for female companionship. This desire was exploited by a Chinese government agent, who became increasingly entwined in Rogers' professional and personal life. Rogers' indiscretion was later exploited by online blackmail scammers, ultimately leading to his downfall.

"The facts of this case read like a spy novel," federal prosecutor Nicholas Hunter told the jury at Rogers' trial in 2026. "There was sex. There was money, manipulation, secret meetings with shady characters in China, fake identities, lies, trickery, and deceit. But this was real life. The events of this case all happened."

The crucial question, though, was whether Rogers was a spy or a dupe for Chinese intelligence. His lawyers argued that he didn't pass any information of value to the Chinese and that he was just a naive academic who got caught up in espionage.

A CNBC investigation of the Rogers case has yielded a trove of information not previously made public, including text messages, audio recordings made by investigators, copies of the secret Fed documents Rogers was accused of accessing, and dozens of photographs of Rogers, the Chinese spy and the young Chinese woman who would become Rogers' second wife. This story is based on those materials as well as interviews, testimony, and documents and images produced in court proceedings.

Rogers declined to be interviewed for this story.

Officials at the Federal Reserve and the Fed's Office of Inspector General declined to comment.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, whose office prosecuted Rogers, said: "John Rogers spent years secretly funneling sensitive Federal Reserve information to Chinese spies, then looked investigators in the eye and lied about it. And when that wasn't enough, he lied again under oath at trial."

Jonathan Gitlen, an attorney for Rogers, told CNBC that the economist did not lie under oath.

Rogers first met the man U.S. officials identify as a Chinese government spy in 2013 at a conference in Shanghai sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas on the campus of Fudan University, one of China's elite colleges.

During a session break, a tall, broad-shouldered young Chinese man approached Rogers and introduced himself as Hummin Lee, a Ph.D. student. The U.S. government believes Lee's real name is Jin Chuan and that he is a Chinese spy.

Ralph Goff, a retired 35-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency, believes the Chinese government might have been tracking Rogers well before he met Lee in Shanghai. Goff, who did not play a role in the Rogers investigation but has decades of experience cultivating sources for espionage, said Rogers would have been a valuable target, given his role as senior advisor overseeing research in the Fed's international finance division, which gave him an inside view of one of the most important and impenetrable financial institutions in the world.

The Chinese government's interest may have been piqued by Rogers' behavior on dating apps. Rogers, a single father whose four children had grown up and moved away, was lonely and spending time on a website called AsianDating.com. He was sending nude photos to people he met online.

Lee and Rogers kept in touch over email and connected on Facebook, giving Lee a peek into Rogers' personal life, including photos of his family.

It also gave Rogers a small peek at Lee. On Facebook, Lee's account displayed a picture of the young Chinese man from behind, rippling shoulders framed in a weight lifter's tank top. Another showed Lee on the floor of a gym in chocolate-chip camouflage pants, doing a situp while a German shepherd holds down his feet. Lee had just six friends on Facebook.

Over the years, Lee wished Rogers a happy birthday. He sent him Christmas gifts, including a copy of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and a set of silk scarves. Lee also invited Rogers to lecture at universities in China.

After Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, Lee emailed Rogers about a Christmas gift he had just sent — a traditional Chinese painting. And then he asked a pointed question about the new administration: "It seems Donald Trump not friendly to China," Lee wrote. "Some news said he will mark China as a currency manipulator, will that be true? Do you have any comments about this? Have a great Christmas Day."

In his reply, Rogers didn't answer the question. "Merry Christmas to you too, Hummin," he wrote. "You are so kind, as always. I did not yet receive your kind gift but will let you know when I do."

A week later, on New Year's Eve, Rogers was home alone. He would later say that on that night he "kind of felt like a loser." Late in the evening, he logged on to AsianDating.com.

There, he encountered a young woman in Shanghai with a beautiful smile: Yu Liu, known as Yu Yu. Rogers thought she had lovely eyes.

The two exchanged photos and talked about their goals for the future. Soon, they were discussing building a new life together. Rogers did not speak Chinese. But Yu Yu's messages were so well written that Rogers believed that she spoke excellent English. Later he learned that she didn't speak the language at all.

Rogers' budding romance with Yu Yu changed his relationship with Lee. Suddenly, the American economist was eager to travel to China, where he would be able to meet the woman with the beautiful smile.

Goff said Chinese intelligence was likely aware of the meeting. "If this woman wasn't a plant by Chinese intelligence into that web dating site, then I'm sure that they had a meeting with her soon after that contact," Goff said. He said Chinese intelligence could have told Yu Yu to pursue the relationship.

It is unclear whether Yu Yu has any links to the Chinese government. CNBC attempted to contact Yu Yu at her home and provided a detailed list of questions to her, but she has not responded.

The following May, Rogers accepted an invitation from Lee to lecture at two universities in China. On that trip, Rogers met Yu Yu in person for the first time. The couple had to rely on smartphone apps to communicate with one another, but that didn't slow down the relationship.

When he returned to the United States, Rogers' text messages with Yu Yu had turned to talk of marriage and babies. Rogers wrote: "I am lonely without Yuyu."

Soon, Rogers wrote to Lee proposing that he be invited back to teach classes at Chinese universities — and to spend a few days in Shanghai, where Yu Yu lived.

Lee replied by email, delighted to accommodate the Federal Reserve economist. "Of course it's a great plan for us," Lee wrote. "We always look forward to listening to your presentation. ... Your related expenses in China will all be covered by us." Lee got to work providing documents for Rogers to use in his visa application to travel to China.

Lee arranged for Rogers to return to China in October 2017. Lee managed the itinerary, set up lectures, and arranged for Rogers and Yu Yu to travel by train together between Chinese cities.

On that trip, the second time Rogers had seen Yu Yu in person, she became pregnant. After landing back in the United States, Rogers sent Yu Yu a text message: "I want to marry you. Will you marry me, sweetheart?"

Yu Yu replied: "God told me: Marrying John is right!"

The couple began planning for a wedding in Hong Kong. The next month, Yu Yu texted Rogers with a picture of her pregnancy test. Rogers replied, "I am so happy YuYu. To be a father again is the best thing that could ever happen to me. I love you so much."

The pregnancy and wedding planning made Rogers more dependent on Lee. The American needed travel assistance, help navigating the bureaucracy and funding for his trip. Lee came through for him. "That guy seemed to know everything," Rogers later told Fed investigators.

While Lee was getting more involved in Rogers' increasingly complicated life, he was also asking for information about the inner workings of the Fed. Rogers pushed back, saying he didn't have much to share. He said later that he'd told Lee, "I don't have any knowledge, nor does any economist at the Fed have any knowledge in addition to what we put on the website."

Lee introduced Rogers to his boss, whom he called Professor Cui. It was this boss, Lee said, who authorized funds for Rogers' travel and who set up invitations for Rogers to lecture in China.

Cui pressed Rogers for rumors and gossip about the Fed and offered him packets of cash, which Rogers said he turned down. Rogers said in court that Cui played the role of bad cop to Lee's good cop.

Much later, when federal agents searched Rogers' home, they would find $55,000 in cash, some of which was in a white plastic grocery bag at the bottom of a closet mixed in with a pile of women's clothing. According to trial testimony, investigators were unable to establish where the cash came from.

Rogers' life, though, was growing increasingly complicated and expensive. At one point Lee wrote to Rogers: "Yu Yu said she needs 5,000 before you come back. So I wired 5,000 to her. Used my own money. Don't worry."

Rogers needed more help, and cash, for Yu Yu to get a divorce from her then-husband, who was demanding 80,000 yuan — currently about $12,000 — to sign the papers. Rogers offered 10,000 yuan.

Lee promised he would get the divorce papers signed. "Go to sleep and take a good rest man," Lee wrote to Rogers.

Just over seven hours later, Lee texted Rogers photos of a newly issued divorce certificate. "Yuyu got the divorce certificate!" Lee wrote.

"This is the best waking up message I have ever received," Rogers replied.

Rogers and Yu Yu married in Hong Kong in March 2018. Lee had planned logistics and important details of the wedding — and he signed the prenuptial agreement between Rogers and Yu Yu as a witness. "Thank goodness I've got you assisting with everything! Yuyu and I would be sunk without you," Rogers wrote to Lee.

When Yu Yu's due date approached in the summer of 2018, Rogers took paternity leave from the Fed and flew to China to be present for the birth of his new daughter. Lee met him at the airport and accompanied Rogers and Yu Yu to the hospital for the birth.

Rogers was also aware that Lee, now supposedly an economics professor at a Chinese university, had an unusually intense interest in him. The Chinese economist was a "super nice guy but so nice it was a little bit spooky," Rogers told Fed investigators.

Rogers had fallen in love with China itself. On his phone, he carried a lengthy love letter of sorts that he wrote to the nation. It began: "Dear Chinese people, I love your kindness, your generosity, your humbly hardworking high-achieving society."

Yu Yu and their baby eventually moved to Rogers' home in Virginia.

Rogers later acknowledged to investigators that he was deeply indebted to Lee. "I owe everything to him. The baby wouldn't have happened, the relationship with my wife wouldn't have happened, despite the fact that we met online, it just would not have happened without him. And I love him like a brother."

Lee's efforts to get information about the Fed from Rogers appeared to intensify. Lee arranged regular trips for Rogers to travel to China to conduct classes, although the sessions often took place in hotel rooms, with just a handful of attendees. The topics included specific aspects of the Fed's oversight of the U.S. economy.

At one point, Lee messaged Rogers images of a document that contained a list of typed questions, including: "The Fed raised interest rates several times during the past two years. Why is the dollar not showing significant changes in appreciation, but has always been at a low level?" And "How does the Fed evaluate China's financial liberalization, especially the openness of the stock market and exchange rate?"

At the bottom of the document were questions about Trump: "How does the Fed evaluate the trade war with China proposed by Trump? Will the Fed adjust monetary policy to cooperate with the trade war? What specific measures will the Fed take?"

In his message to Rogers, Lee said: "I'm wondering if you could help us collect answers from your colleagues or documents and teach us when we meet."

Rogers testified at his trial that the questions were harmless. "These were bread-and-butter classic questions in international finance and macroeconomics, and they not only could be addressed without using any sort of Fed sensitive information, but these questions have been addressed in the literature for dozens of years," he said.

After receiving the question list, Rogers emailed two colleagues inside the Fed, looking for answers. "I am wondering if you can point me to some readings on the Fed and China. I am traveling to a conference in Beijing soon," Rogers wrote. "I want to be helpful to my very generous hosts, of course, but I never seem able to provide them with the right material. Part of it, I think, is that they want me to reveal some kind of Fed secrets they believe exist."

Rogers asked the colleagues to provide material he could "appropriately share" with the Chinese.

A colleague responded with two attachments, one of which was labeled "Nonconfidential/Internal FR," with "FR" standing for "Federal Reserve."

Rogers, a federal agent would later testify, changed the heading on that document to "Nonconfidential/External" and sent it on to Lee.

Rogers' attorneys said that as a senior Fed official, Rogers had the authority to use his judgment to change the heading on the document, because he had also removed any sensitive information from it.

In October 2018, Rogers suggested to Lee that their next class could focus on "Trade policy uncertainty."

Later he emailed a colleague, asking for Fed material on trade policy uncertainty. He wrote to his colleague: "Could you give me: One, the three-sentences description of our current thinking, and/or, number two, anything in writing that is allowed to be shared? If there is something in writing that is not allowed to be shared, please send that just for me to catch up."

The colleague forwarded Rogers a document on washing machine tariffs. Just how secret the information in that document was — or whether it was a secret at all — would later become a point of contention between prosecutors and Rogers' lawyers in court.

Rogers forwarded the document to his personal Gmail account and from there sent it to Lee.

The next June, Rogers printed out two documents, one of which came from a category that generally applied to economic forecasts prepared by the Fed's staff for its interest rate setting committee and for operations where the Fed buys and sells bonds, according to Fed guidelines. These are among the most sensitive activities for the Fed. The other was a set of bullet points for a briefing that a Federal Reserve economist was set to give to Fed governors before a Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The next day Rogers boarded a flight to China.

Three days later, Rogers took a picture of a class in session in a hotel room in Beijing. In the picture were three people: Hummin Lee, another man and a woman, all dressed in T-shirts and posing by a large video monitor. Lee and the other man, prosecutors said later, worked for Chinese security and intelligence services.

Back at home, Rogers' relationship with Yu Yu was beginning to disintegrate. Moving from Shanghai to Vienna, Virginia, and raising a baby in unfamiliar surroundings had been an enormous change. "She had a very difficult time adjusting to the new life, and understandably," Rogers later testified. "I was very, very sympathetic." Their relationship became turbulent.

By early 2019, Rogers and Yu Yu were fighting by text message. Yu Yu demanded more money from Rogers, and Rogers said he'd given enough — including paying for Yu Yu's parents' apartment.

Yu Yu also claimed Rogers was seeing other women. "You need to take responsibility for your wife and a new baby!" she wrote. "You have too many girlfriends."

Soon, local police were involved. Rogers had invited another woman to live in his home. Gitlen later told CNBC that she was a masseuse who had treated Rogers for back problems.

Verbal fights between the two women devolved into a physical brawl. Yu Yu and Rogers told Vienna police that Yu Yu had been assaulted. Yu Yu said the woman scratched her face and breast and pulled her hair. An officer asked Rogers about his relationship with the other woman. "I swear to God we're just friends," Rogers told the police.

But the breakdown of Rogers' relationship with Yu Yu was complete. Rogers said Yu Yu moved into a guest room in his house.

In his renewed loneliness, Rogers once again turned to the internet. This time it would lead to his downfall.

On Instagram, Rogers exchanged messages with accounts featuring beautiful women, eventually exchanging nude photos of himself taken with his Fed-issued phone, sometimes in the gym at Fed headquarters in Washington.

Soon, the people behind the accounts began demanding money. They told Rogers they knew where he worked, what kind of car he drove. They threatened to send Rogers' nudes to the vice chair of the Fed, Richard Clarida. They threatened to kidnap Rogers' then-18-month-old daughter. Rogers would testify that all of this had him "very scared and wanting to protect my family."

This was the breaking point. In 2020, on Super Bowl Sunday, Rogers told higher-ups what had been going on. They referred Rogers to the Fed's Office of Inspector General.

Rogers was already on the Inspector General's radar, and the Fed's cybersecurity team had concerns about Rogers' travel to China and his relationship with Lee.

Rogers met with Alan Hershkowitz, a special agent at the Office of Inspector General responsible for criminal investigations, for a voluntary meeting that stretched to 2½ hours. "My brain is a little frazzled," Rogers can be heard saying on a recording of the conversation.

On the recording, when the topic turns to nude photos, Rogers breathes heavily and lets out several loud sighs as he struggles to explain how the scammers got the photos. "Of course, one wracks his brain about 'how did this happen, what did I do wrong,'" Rogers said.

"Serious question, and we have to ask it," Hershkowitz said. "Are there nude photos, have you ever taken a nude photo of yourself?"

Pressing further, Hershkowitz told Rogers that the information was important in determining whether the scammers' threats were real. Rogers sighed again and said, "I can't rule it out."

Soon the conversation turned to China and Rogers' relationships with Yu Yu and Lee.

Then Hershkowitz asked: "Did you ever provide or share any restricted [Fed Board of Governors] information?" He detailed several types of information deemed confidential at the Fed. "Did you share or provide any of this information with anyone else outside of the board?"

Prosecutors would later allege that was a lie. They could prove he had sent such a document — not to Lee, but to a co-author at Fudan University in Shanghai. Rogers' attorneys would argue that although "never" was a false statement, it wasn't made knowingly and willfully — that Rogers was emotional about the nude pictures and the blackmail and couldn't remember every document he sent over the years.

The incident effectively ended Rogers' career as a Fed economist. He was placed on administrative leave and resigned in lieu of termination in the spring of 2021.

The circumstances of his departure — the years of Chinese contacts, the nude pictures at the Fed — were not made public.

Soon after he left the Fed, Rogers began teaching classes at Fudan University — the same university he had visited when he first met Lee in 2013. He believed the case against him had ended.

He was wrong. The Fed had taken the case to the FBI, and more than three years later its agents surrounded Rogers and his dog at the school bus stop.

He was charged with one count of making false statements to investigators and one count of conspiracy to commit economic espionage, the far more serious charge.

Rogers' trial began in January 2026.

Prosecutors at his trial called Rogers a traitor who "conspired with spies in China to provide secret information from the U.S. Federal Reserve worth untold sums of money to the People's Republic of China."

Stephen Saltzburg, an attorney for Rogers, argued that Rogers trusted the wrong people. "All of the book smarts he had, all of the articles in his resume, they don't prepare you for spies."

On Feb. 3, the jury found Rogers guilty on the charge of making false statements but acquitted him on the charge of conspiracy to commit economic espionage.

On July 15, he was sentenced to 38 months in federal prison.

The same day, a report by the Fed's Inspector General said the central bank had several security problems, including the lack of "a process to identify its critical assets," and that it needed a program to manage insider risks.

In another report, published Sept. 24, the Inspector General's office revealed that a Fed employee in 2024 transferred potentially sensitive information outside the Fed just before retiring, exposing deficiencies in the Fed's ability to secure information.

To CIA veteran Goff, the Rogers case represents a victory for the U.S. government, even though Rogers wasn't convicted of spying. "I think they won out in the end, but it shouldn't have taken that long."

Asked if he believes the Chinese are still trying to penetrate the Fed, Goff replied: "Absolutely."

Three weeks after Goff's comment, the FBI announced it had taken down a vast China state-sponsored hacking operation that targeted sensitive American institutions, including the Federal Reserve.

At the end of his testimony, Rogers was asked who he believed Lee was.

"And knowing that, how does that make you feel?" he was asked.

"Duped," Rogers said. "He was my friend."