When Chinese warships made their first visit to the U.S. mainland six years ago, alleged double agent Katrina Leung hosted a special banquet welcoming the naval power.
It was a familiar role for Leung, who stood between Chinese and American flags. For two decades, the gracious mistress of ceremonies successfully cast herself as a grateful emigre, a woman committed to building ties between her native China and the U.S.
Today, her closest friends say they are shocked to learn she was on the FBI payroll, but federal prosecutors say she was keeping an even deeper secret.
They allege Leung was working for China during the two decades that she collected $1.7 million to spy for the United States. For nearly as long, Leung, who is married, had an affair with the FBI agent who recruited her in the early 1980s, James J. Smith. Leung also acknowledged to authorities an affair with an FBI agent in San Francisco.
She was indicted Thursday on charges of obtaining, copying and keeping national security documents, federal crimes punishable by up to 50 years in prison. She has remained in custody since her arrest April 9.
Leung, who was not charged with espionage, denied betraying the United States in a statement issued last month by her family and friends. For 20 years, it said, Leung did exactly what the FBI asked, "giving up her career and personal life" out of loyalty to the United States. "Two agents embarrassed the FBI by taking advantage of Katrina," it said.
Throughout this time, Leung introduced Smith at numerous social events as "my good friend from the FBI." Leung's friends said they did not suspect a romantic entanglement.
Smith, 59, is accused in a federal indictment of gross negligence for allowing Leung access to classified documents and depriving the FBI of "his honest services."
The two are scheduled to be arraigned today.
Smith is free on bail. Also married, he retired from the bureau in November 2000, but allegedly continued the affair until late last year.
Prosecutors say the liaisons gave Leung access to government information. The bureau's yearlong investigation included audio surveillance, evidence the FBI says includes tapes of the couple having sex at a Los Angeles-area hotel in November.
The surprise, said Leung's acquaintances, was not that she may have worked for China, but that she was working for the FBI.
