2 LI residents charged in alleged scheme to conspire with Chinese government

Two Long Island residents have been indicted on federal charges for allegedly conspiring to stalk and harass pro-democracy activists in what prosecutors said was a "transnational repression scheme." 

“As alleged, this case involves a multifaceted campaign to silence, harass, discredit and spy on U.S. residents for exercising their freedom of speech – aided by a current federal law enforcement officer and a private investigator who provided confidential information about U.S. residents from a restricted law enforcement database, and when confronted about their improper conduct, lied and destroyed evidence,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

Fan "Frank" Liu, 62, of Jericho, the president of the Congress Web TV Station and World Harmony Foundation, and Matthew Ziburis, 49, of Oyster Bay, who previously lived in Ocala, Florida, and was a correction officer for the state of Florida and also worked as a bodyguard, were indicted on charges including conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign government. 

Liu and Ziburis are accused of trying to bribe an IRS official to get a copy of the tax return of a Southern California-based sculptor who spoke critically of the Chinese government. The pair also allegedly conspired to place a GPS tracking device on the artist's vehicle and tried to destroy one of the artist's sculptures.  The artist’s sculpture depicting PRC President Xi Jinping as a coronavirus molecule was demolished in spring 2021.

The others indicted in connection with the scheme are Craig Miller, 48, of Hastings, Minnesota, a 15-year employee of the Department of Homeland Security; and Derrick Taylor, 60, of Irvine, California, a retired DHS law enforcement agent who works as a private investigator in California. Both Miller and Taylor are charged with obstruction of justice, while Taylor is charged with making a false statement to the FBI.

China resident Qiang "Jason" Sun, who authorities allege paid Liu and Ziburis to stalk, harrass and discredit Chinese dissidents living in the United States, remains at large. 

Attorneys for the defendants could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Liu, at Sun's direction, paid a private investigator in Queens to bribe an Internal Revenue Service employee to obtain the federal tax returns of one of the dissidents, but the private investigator was cooperating with law enforcement, and no Internal Revenue Service employee received a bribe payment. The defendants planned to publicly disclose the dissident’s potential tax liabilities to discredit him, prosecutors said.

Liu, Ziburis, and Sun also planned to interview dissidents in mock media sessions, using the cover of Liu’s purported media organization, so that the video clips could be used as Chinese propoganda, prosecutors said.

An unnamed co-conspirator retained Taylor to obtain confidential and sensitive personal identification information, such as passport and immigration records, of Chinese dissidents living in the United States, in an effort to harrass them. Miller accessed the records and provided them to Taylor, prosecutors said.

When FBI special agents confronted Miller and Taylor, they both lied about accessing and providing the records, prosecutors said. 

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.