Baimadajie Angwang at the 111th Precinct in Bayside (Facebook)
Dec. 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin
A Bayside police officer who allegedly moonlighted as a spy for the Chinese government will remain in jail ahead of his trial after a judge tossed out his appeal last week.
Baimadajie Angwang, who worked as a community affairs officer for the NYPD’s 111th Precinct, had appealed an earlier district court ruling that denied him pretrial release. His request was rejected by a U.S. Court of Appeals judge on Friday.
Angwang, 33, has been behind bars since he was arrested in September for allegedly acting as an agent for the People’s Republic of China.
He was first denied pretrial release in October, with prosecutors arguing that he was a flight risk considering his close ties to China. Angwang’s attorney appealed the court decision, but the appeal was rejected.
According to the charges, Angwang worked with members of the Chinese consulate in New York to provide information on Tibetan immigrants.
Angwang, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen and Long Island resident, is also charged with committing wire fraud, making material false statements and obstruction of an official proceeding.
If convicted, he faces up to 55 years in prison.
