Aussie ex-intel boss charged with secrecy breach

A former top Australian intelligence official has been charged with mishandling classified documents, officials said yesterday, years after his home was raided during an investigation into Chinese influence operations.

Police and government officials said Roger Uren had appeared in court on Wednesday over mishandling sensitive intelligence. He is believed to be facing around 30 charges.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation -- the main domestic spy agency -- raided Uren’s Canberra home in October 2015 and uncovered a stash of classified files.

Uren had been the deputy head of the now-defunct Office of National Assessments, which provided intelligence analysis to Australia’s prime minister, and was once considered a possible ambassador to China.

Around the time of the raid his Chinese-Australian wife Sheri Yan, a fixer and lobbyist, was arrested in the United States on bribery charges.

She pleaded guilty and was jailed in 2016 for conspiring to bribe former UN General Assembly president John Ashe.