A former senior Federal Reserve adviser was sentenced Wednesday to 38 months in prison for lying to the central bank's internal watchdog about sharing restricted information with contacts in China, according to the Wall Street Journal. John Rogers, who worked in the Fed's division of international finance, was convicted of making a false statement but acquitted of the more serious charge of conspiracy to commit economic espionage for China.
Sentence and charges
Judge Dabney Friedrich cited Rogers's senior position and a pattern of sharing sensitive information with Chinese contacts in imposing the sentence, calling it "far from the ordinary false-statement case." Prosecutors had alleged Rogers passed sensitive economic forecasts and Fed briefing materials to a Chinese contact posing as an academic, though jurors stopped short of convicting him on espionage grounds.
Rogers testified in his own defense, saying he came to believe his contact was a spy only after sitting through the trial and describing himself as "duped." He denied ever being a spy for China and said he did not betray his country. He has been detained since January 2025.
Broader concerns
The case is unlikely to move markets directly, but it reinforces longstanding concerns in Washington about the Federal Reserve as a target for foreign intelligence gathering, given Rogers's former access to sensitive economic forecasts and briefing materials for rate-setters. The episode may draw renewed scrutiny to information security practices around Fed staff with international contacts, particularly those involving China. No immediate policy or personnel implications for the Fed have been indicated.