An active duty U.S. Army sergeant was indicted Thursday on allegations he sold sensitive military documents regarding the U.S. defense of Taiwan to someone in Hong Kong, the Department of Justice announced.
Korbein Schultz now faces federal charges of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, conspiracy to export technical data related to defense articles without a license, bribery, and more.
Schultz, of the 506th Infantry Battalion, is said to have amassed $42,000 in payments from an unnamed person. In return, prosecutors said he sent sensitive documents pertaining to U.S. weapons systems and missile defense systems in Taiwan, among other things.
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Charging documents said Schultz texted his handler he “wished he could be Jason Bourne,” referencing the fictional action character. A month later, the indictment alleged Schultz told the unnamed man he was considering “moving to Hong Kong and working for you in person.”
The DOJ never specified China was the receiver of the sensitive information, but said many of the leaked documents pertained to the country.
Prosecutors wrote that documents were first leaked by Schultz in June 2022, when he began messaging via encrypted messaging applications with the unidentified person. Schultz was instructed to prioritize passing along “original and exclusive documents” to his handler.
In addition to classified information regarding Taiwan and China, charging documents said the unnamed individual requested information related to Russia, Ukraine, and the “operability of sensitive U.S. military systems and their capabilities.”
Henry C. Leventis, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, grilled Schultz on Thursday, saying he placed his own financial benefit over the security of his country.
“He traded our national defense information for cash,” he said in a press conference.
Prosecutors said Schultz was drawn into the scheme, in part, by using his love for racing. On May 20 of last year, a conspirator told Schultz that he would “like to meet him at a Formula 1 race overseas” and promised him “big signing bonus” if he kept leaking documents.
Schultz allegedly responded, “Oh snap!”
The arrest of Schultz on Thursday comes just days after a civilian U.S. Air Force employee in Nebraska was arrested on accusations he shared classified information on a foreign dating website with someone who claimed to be a Ukrainian woman. Also this week, the infamous Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira struck a plea deal that will send him to a federal prison for 16 years for sharing classified military documents on Discord.
