The Department of Justice said that a Chinese couple was arrested and indicted on Friday for trying to establish a mini-state in the Marshall Islands.
CaryYan and Gina Zhou are accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
According to the indictment, the pair posed as officers in New York City and tried to bribe officials in the Marshall Islands. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs had a "special consultative status" with the NGOs from 2016 to the present.
The Bikini Atoll is a coral reef where the US tested nuclear weapons after World War II in the Marshall Islands. The US has full authority and responsibility for the defense of the Marshall Islands.
The couple took meetings in New York in an attempt to create a semi-autonomous region similar to Hong Kong. The region would allow the organization to bring in investors to work on economic and social projects in the area.
The "Rongelap Special Economic Zone" was proposed by Zhou andYan and they offered cash bribes to try to get Marshall Islands legislators to create it.
The Marshall Islands is a pro- Taiwan state. It is one of only 14 countries that have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
The DOJ said that the two people were arrested in Thailand. They arrived in the New York district on Friday. They are going to court.
Damian Williams of the DOJ said that the bribe scheme was designed to influence and manipulate the legislative process in the Marshall Islands to benefit themselves and their associates.
The FBI said in a press release that the people of the Marshall Islands had been the victims of illegal activity by the two people.
The couple could face up to five years in prison for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to the DOJ.
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