According to court records released Friday in Maine District Court, Liu is alleged to have stripped valuable components from government computers, replaced them with inferior parts and traded the originals to an electronics retailer for credit.
Liu, 39, is charged with theft and damage of government property in a case involving 46 altered computers at three Maine border facilities. Prosecutors are seeking to keep him jailed, citing frequent international travel, financial resources and a home close enough to Canada that an ankle monitor might not prevent him from leaving the country.
The alleged scheme persisted after a port director explicitly warned Liu not to move computers or their parts. Investigators later installed cameras that, according to an FBI affidavit, captured the supervisor opening government computers and swapping components during overnight shifts.
The affidavit doesn’t state or imply that the alternative hardware the Chinese national installed on Homeland Security computers might have served an espionage purpose.
The government estimates that restoring the altered parts would cost $20,460. Replacing all 46 computers would cost an estimated $105,800, before additional expenses to configure them for government use.
Investigators’ account includes a detailed reconstruction of Liu’s movements during a January 9 overnight shift.
Shortly after midnight, he allegedly carried computers into a training room, removed their side panels and began working on the components. A camera installed days earlier recorded him using what appeared to be a screwdriver, removing a processor and scraping its surface in a manner consistent with removing thermal paste, White wrote.
Liu then allegedly installed a replacement processor, moved components between machines and connected monitors, keyboards and network cables to test the computers.
At one point, investigators said, he appeared to use his government identification to log into a modified computer.
Another camera, installed above Liu’s assigned desk in March, allegedly recorded him removing a memory module from a computer and placing it in his desk drawer. He then carried the computer into a server room and connected it to a monitor, keyboard, mouse and network cable.
The affidavit describes working conditions that could leave Liu separated from other officers. During midnight shifts, one supervisor typically covered the open ports in the area. Traffic at the Calais facility was directed to the cargo side, while Liu’s assigned desk was on the passenger side.
According to White, Liu admitted during a September 9 interview that he replaced CBP components with older parts purchased from Amazon and Newegg and used government parts to obtain trade-in credit.
His explanation changed during the interview, the agent wrote.
Liu initially said he made the modifications to improve the computers’ efficiency. Under further questioning, according to the affidavit, he acknowledged knowing that the changes degraded performance and said he acted because he was angry about how long CBP computer repairs took.
In seeking detention, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Ruge argued that Liu had engaged in “recent and frequent international travel” and had “apparent foreign connections and substantial means with which to flee.”
Ruge also argued that the allegations against Liu could weaken his ties to his government employer and the United States.
His residence near the Canadian border offered “significant opportunity” to leave the court’s jurisdiction even under location monitoring, the prosecutor wrote.
Liu’s immigration status is unclear. Though he has described himself as a native of Guangzhou, China, he has also posted images to Facebook suggesting that he voted in the 2020 election.
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