Federal prosecutors in Manhattan announced today that the head of an American research center known as the "Institute for the Analysis of Global Security," Gal Luft, has been charged with espionage for China and attempting to broker the sale of Iranian oil. Gal Luft, an Israeli-American, is accused of recruiting and paying a former U.S. government official on behalf of directors residing in China in 2016, without registering as a foreign agent as required by law.
The prosecutors did not disclose the identity of the former official but stated that he had served as a consultant to then-elected President Donald Trump. Luft is accused of financially incentivizing the consultant to support policies favoring China, including drafting comments on behalf of the consultant that were published in a Chinese newspaper.
In a Twitter account under his name, which has over 15,000 followers, Luft tweeted in mid-February that he was arrested in Cyprus "based on a politically motivated extradition request from the U.S." He added in the tweet, “I have never been an arms dealer.”
Prosecutors indicated that Luft (57) was arrested in February in Cyprus under U.S. charges but fled after being released on bail while awaiting extradition. He is currently not detained in the United States.
Luft is the co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, which describes itself as a Washington-based research center focusing on energy, security, and economic trends. Prosecutors claimed that Luft mediated a deal in which Chinese companies sold weapons to countries including Libya, the UAE, and Kenya, despite lacking the necessary licenses to do so under U.S. law. He is also accused of facilitating meetings between Iranian officials and a Chinese energy company to discuss oil deals despite U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
