The US Department of Justice says a former senior adviser for the US Federal Reserve has been arrested and indicted on charges of conspiring to steal Fed trade secrets for China.

The department on Friday announced the arrest and indictment of 63-year-old John Rogers, who worked as a senior adviser in the Fed's international finance division from 2010 to 2021.

He allegedly shared confidential Fed information with Chinese co-conspirators who worked for China's intelligence and security apparatus while posing as graduate students.

The department said from at least 2018, Rogers allegedly sent sensitive information to his personal email account or printed it before traveling to China. Some of the information was about Federal Open Market Committee deliberations and forthcoming announcements.

The Department of Justice said, "Under the guise of teaching classes, Rogers met with his co-conspirators in hotel rooms in China" where he passed on the information.

It also said, "In 2023, Rogers was paid approximately 450,000 dollars as a part-time professor at a Chinese university."

In a statement, the Department of Justice said it "will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to disrupt economic espionage and protect our national security."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement, "The Chinese Communist Party has expanded its economic espionage campaign to target US government financial policies and trade secrets in an effort to undermine the United States and become the sole superpower."