American accused of offering sensitive information on US military to China indicted in Germany

BERLIN (AP) — An American man who worked at a U.S. military facility in Germany and allegedly offered to supply sensitive information to China has been indicted on espionage charges, German prosecutors said Monday.

The suspect, identified only as Martin D. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in Frankfurt in early November. In an indictment sent to the state court in Koblenz earlier this month, he is charged with having declared his willingness to engage in espionage for a foreign intelligence service, federal prosecutors said.

The man worked between 2017 and early 2023 for a civilian contractor of the U.S. Defense Department, and worked at an unidentified U.S. military facility in Germany from at least 2020 onward, prosecutors said in a statement.

He is accused of contacting Chinese authorities repeatedly in the summer of 2024 and offering to provide sensitive U.S. military information for Chinese intelligence.

German media have reported that the suspect apparently didn’t manage to transfer any data to Chinese authorities before his arrest.

The court in Koblenz will now have to decide whether to send the case to trial and, if so, when.