Feds charge Chinese-born researcher at UCLA with destroying evidence in espionage probe

A Chinese-born researcher at UCLA has been charged with destroying evidence in an effort to obstruct an FBI investigation into possible espionage.

Guan Lei, 29, was arrested and ordered detained after being observed throwing a damaged hard drive into a dumpster outside his apartment, the Justice Department said Friday. 

Prosecutors allege that Guan, who was in the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa, threw a damaged hard drive into a trash dumpster near his residence in late July after Guan was stopped from boarding a flight to China and refused to let FBI agents examine his computer.

An FBI affidavit said the hard drive "was irreparably damaged and that all previous data associated with the hard drive appears to have been removed deliberately and by force."

The criminal complaint said Guan is being investigated for possibly transferring sensitive U.S. software or technical data to China’s National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) and falsely denying in his 2018 visa application his association with China's People's Liberation Army.

"Guan later admitted that he had participated in military training and wore military uniforms while at NUDT. ... NUDT is suspected of procuring U.S.-origin items to develop supercomputers with nuclear explosive applications," the Justice Department said.