The defendant ‘put the United States and its citizens in harm’s way,’ according to District Attorney Kelly O. Hayes.
A Maryland resident has pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme resulting in his China-based coconspirators having access to sensitive U.S. government systems, including those of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to federal prosecutors.
Minh Phuong Ngoc Vong, 40, of Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland said in a statement on April 15. Vong, a native of Vietnam and a naturalized U.S. citizen, conspired with unknown individuals, including John Doe, also known as William James, from the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.
“Mr. Vong put the United States and its citizens in harm’s way by plotting and engaging in this fraudulent scheme. His actions gave unauthorized people access to sensitive U.S. Government systems and national-defense matters,” Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, said in a statement.
On Jan. 30, 2023, Doe submitted a fraudulent résumé using Vong’s name to a Virginia-based software company for the web application developer position, prosecutors said, without identifying the company. The position required that candidates be U.S. citizens to be eligible for employment.
According to the indictment, the company, identified only as “Company 1,” provided software development services to various U.S. government entities.
Prosecutors said that the résumé falsely claimed that Vong had a Bachelor of Science degree and 16 years of experience as a software developer. In reality, Vong did not hold a college degree and had no background in software development.
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In the following month, Doe posed as Vong and took part in an online video interview for the position in February 2023, according to the indictment.
On March 28, 2023, Vong took part in an online video job interview with the company’s chief executive officer. According to the indictment, Vong showed his Maryland driver’s license and U.S. passport to show his identity and citizenship.
After the company hired Vong, the defendant was assigned to work on a contract for the FAA, and the agency granted him a personal identity verification card, which prosecutors said allowed him access to the agency’s facilities and systems.
Prosecutors said the contract involved a software application used by several U.S. government agencies to manage sensitive information concerning national defense.
The company provided Vong with a work laptop, and the defendant installed remote access software on it to give Doe access to the device, according to prosecutors.
“Doe, while in China, using Vong’s computer access credentials, performed the software development work and participated online in internal work meetings with FAA contract representatives, all the while presenting to be Vong working remotely from Bowie, Maryland,” the indictment states.
Vont sent a portion of the more than $28,000 in wages from the company to Doe and other coconspirators, prosecutors said.
As part of his plea agreement, Vong admitted that the Virginia-based company was not the only one he and his coconspirators had defrauded. According to prosecutors, between 2021 and 2024, Vong used false representations to obtain employment with at least 13 different U.S. companies, receiving a total of more than $970,000 in salary for software development services.
“Several of these defrauded companies also contracted out Vong’s services to U.S. government agencies,” inadvertently allowing the defendant’s China-based coconspirators to access sensitive government systems, prosecutors said.
“The FBI is warning about an increase in these fraud schemes affecting businesses and organizations around the world,” William J. DelBagno, special agent in charge at the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office, said in a statement.
“Criminals pose as software workers to illegally access networks, stealing data and sensitive information. Furthermore, the money criminals are paid for their ‘work’ often benefits foreign adversaries.”
Vong faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 28, according to prosecutors.
The Epoch Times contacted Vong’s lawyer for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
