• Lu Jianwang arrested in 2023 on charges of acting as Chinese agent
• Prosecutors say Lu operated the station out of a Chinatown office building
• Lu pleaded not guilty; lawyer says he did not act at Beijing’s direction

A New York ​man was found guilty on Wednesday of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government after ‌a trial over federal prosecutors’ allegations that he operated a “secret police station” on behalf of Beijing in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Lu Jianwang, 64, should have alerted the U.S. Attorney General that he was a Chinese agent when he helped open the so-called police station in 2022. They ​also said he helped China’s government locate a pro-democracy activist living in California.

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Prosecutor Lindsey Oken said Lu - a naturalized U.S. citizen - had ties with Chinese law enforcement and met with officials who tasked him with opening the station during a trip to China in 2022.

Oken said Lu ran the station out of a nondescript office building in Chinatown. She said ​he started out by helping Chinese ​nationals living in New York ⁠with renewing driver’s licenses, which alone is a crime if not disclosed to the U.S. government.

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