CSIS repeatedly warned space agency about engineer facing breach of trust charge

The court document suggests that despite the three warnings, Zheng's security clearance status was renewed by the space agency in April 2017.

A former Canadian Space Agency engineer who allegedly used his position to act on behalf of a Chinese company was the subject of a warning from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service as early as 2015, according to recently released court documents.

The affidavits to obtain warrants to search the home, phone and emails of Wanping Zheng were made public after lawyers for La Presse and CBC applied to have them unsealed by the court.

Zheng, 61, a resident of the Montreal suburb of Brossard, Que., faces a single count of breach of trust. The allegations against Zheng have not been tested in court.

Reached Tuesday, Zheng’s lawyer Andrew Barbacki said he was still awaiting disclosure of the evidence and wouldn’t have much to add for the time being.

According to the charge filed, the alleged crime took place between July 1, 2018, and May 30, 2019, in Brossard and St-Hubert — where the Canadian Space Agency is headquartered — as well as in Toronto, Ottawa and elsewhere in Ontario and Quebec.

According to the sworn police affidavits, Canada’s intelligence service sent three warnings to the space agency in September 2015 and March and May of 2016, concerned over Zheng’s “reliability status”– essentially his security clearance.

According to the documents, the initial 2015 warning did not indicate what had triggered the spy agency’s concerns, but a few months later, the CSA was asked if Zheng had access to information about an anti-vibration table, an intellectual property belonging to the space agency.

The court document suggests that despite the three warnings, Zheng’s security clearance status was renewed by the space agency in April 2017 — though only for two years instead of the usual 10 to ensure he was following internal policies.