A criminal complaint has revealed that the US Justice Department on Friday announced criminal charges against a State Department employee accused of sharing sensitive government information with people he met online.
The 42-year-old Michael Charles Schena, was charged with conspiring to gather and transmit US national defense information to people not authorized to receive it.
The Justice Department, in a statement, said Schena, who has worked at State Department headquarters in Washington, held a top secret security clearance and had access to information up to the secret level.
Schena, a South Caribbean desk officer, has not yet entered a plea.
His lawyer has not yet commented on the issue and a State Department spokesperson did not immediately comment.
According to a criminal complaint filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Schena accepted payments in return for sharing information with people he met through various communication platforms beginning in April 2022.
It was gathered that surveillance footage captured Schena photographing at least five diplomatic documents marked secret at a State Department work station last month.
He was arrested the same day outside his Virginia home.
It is not immediately clear what the documents were or with whom they were shared.
