A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Bronx resident Lu Jianwang, 64, on Wednesday of acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and obstruction of justice for operating the first known Ministry of Public Security (MPS) police station on American soil. He was acquitted on a related conspiracy charge.

Lu, also known as Harry Lu, faces up to 30 years in prison and remains free on bail pending sentencing.

The outpost at 107 East Broadway in Manhattan’s Chinatown operated from January 2022 under orders from an MPS official. The MPS is China’s primary domestic law enforcement and intelligence agency. During the October 2022 FBI search of the site, agents seized a banner reading “Fuzhou Police Overseas Service Station, New York, USA.”

Yesterday evening, FBI New York and @EDNYnews announced Lu Jianwang was convicted by a jury for acting as an illegal agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in connection with opening and operating an overseas police station in lower Manhattan for the… pic.twitter.com/7CGQ2GN1i6

— FBI New York (@NewYorkFBI) May 14, 2026

“A police station operating in New York City at the direction of the Chinese government has been exposed, its sinister purpose disrupted, and its founder held accountable for blatantly disregarding the law and our country’s sovereignty,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.

Prosecutors said Lu was tasked with locating a pro-democracy advocate who fled China for the United States. The obstruction charge stems from WeChat messages Lu deleted after learning of the FBI investigation. Agents recovered some through screenshots on his phone.

Chen Jinping pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiring to act as a Chinese agent and awaits sentencing.

The verdict came two days after Eileen Wang, mayor of Arcadia, California, resigned and agreed to plead guilty to acting as a Chinese agent, the second such case resolved in the U.S. within a week.

Spain-based rights group Safeguard Defenders, which first exposed the MPS station network, has documented more than 100 such outposts across 53 countries.

Defense attorney John Carman said his team will appeal, calling it a paperwork matter that was presented as espionage.