Huang Yu, 48, a computer technician at a Chinese state encryption lab, has been sentenced to death for selling state secrets to foreign intelligence agencies.

Yu sold 150,000 state documents for "a foreign spy organization" and earned over $700,000. He also sold ciphers for the Communist Party, government, military and financial communications.

The state safety bureau of Chengdu said: "He had offered a great deal of classified information in 10 years, which caused serious threats to our core government and military departments."

Yu was dissatisfied with his work and offered documents for sale to the unnamed foreign intelligence agency. He was paid $10,000 for the first batch and then put on "retainer" of a monthly salary of $5,000. He was eventually fired for poor performance, but in order to keep the checks coming, he persuaded his wife for more information. He also stole state documents from his brother-in-law's computer while repairing it.

The state authorities caught on when his wealth and frequent trips to Hong Kong caught their eye and an investigation ensued.

While Yu now faces the death penalty, his wife was sentenced to five years in prison, and his brother-in-law to three years, for “negligence,” and 29 of his former colleagues have also been punished

Source: The Register