Three more indicted in military leak case linked to ex-TV producer

Taipei, Aug. 14 (CNA) The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office has indicted three additional suspects in a case involving the leak of military information spearheaded by former television producer Lee Neng-chien (李能謙), the office said Friday.

Lee, who was indicted in April on espionage-related charges, is accused of leaking the personal data of intelligence agents and sensitive military information to Chinese intelligence operatives in 2024 and 2025, according to prosecutors.

The latest indictments name Hung Chia-pei (洪嘉培), Chen Wei-shuo (陳偉碩) and Cheng Chao-an (鄭兆安) as participants in the scheme.

Prosecutors alleged that Hung attempted to sell a large database of personal information to Chinese intelligence operatives for profit.

According to the indictment, Hung obtained a dataset in March 2025 containing the names, months of birth, national identification numbers, job positions and contact information of a large number of Taiwanese citizens.

After meeting Lee in April 2025, Hung filtered the database using keywords such as "Ministry of Foreign Affairs," "Ministry of National Defense," "Army," "Navy," "Air Force," and "Reserves," extracting 3,674 records, including the personal information of intelligence personnel.

Lee was expected to pass the data to Chinese intelligence operatives, but the deal fell through after the two sides failed to agree on payment, prosecutors said.

Chen and Cheng were also indicted for helping Lee collect personal information on military personnel in April 2024.

According to prosecutors, Lee instructed Chen to gather information on active-duty military personnel. Chen then contacted Cheng, who worked in the loan business.

Using his former loan customers as a source, Cheng identified individuals with military backgrounds and compiled their names, national identification numbers and phone numbers into a file, which he sent to Chen.

Chen then forwarded the information to one of Lee's associates in exchange for NT$5,000 (US$151).

Hung was additionally indicted on charges of violating the National Security Act, the Intelligence Services Act and the Personal Data Protection Act.

Prosecutors said Hung repeatedly denied wrongdoing and attempted to justify his actions despite putting national security at risk. They recommended a prison sentence for him of more than seven years and six months.

Chen and Cheng were indicted on charges of violating the Personal Data Protection Act, with prosecutors recommending no prison sentence for either suspect.

According to the April indictment, Lee began working with a Chinese military intelligence operative known by the code name "Small Blue" in May 2024 to collect personal information on active-duty military personnel and sensitive defense-related information.

In 2025, Lee was allegedly recruited by another Chinese intelligence contact known as "Fuzhou Hotspring" while in Fuzhou, China.

Prosecutors said he obtained more than 3,000 personal records, including those of intelligence agents and active-duty military personnel, and transmitted six files to the contact through Telegram.

Lee and four other suspects were indicted in April on charges including violations of the National Security Act, the Intelligence Services Act and the Personal Data Protection Act.