It reads like a John le Carré spy novel — but it’s all true.

When reading about it, one can’t help but be reminded of that now-disappeared former Democrat Congressman, Eric Swalwell (CA-14), and his hijinks with suspected Chinese honeypot spy Fang Fang.

The story dates back to 2025, but a new CNBC investigation has brought dramatic details to light. It’s got sex, love, and betrayal, and I’m betting Netflix is already trying to buy the rights:

John Rogers, a former senior official at the Fed, was arrested in January 2025 — days before he was set to travel to China with his wife, a Chinese national, and their 6-year-old daughter. Investigators believed that Rogers passed information about the Fed to a Chinese government spy, who, over more than a decade, helped him with his career, his finances and his marriage to a woman 24 years his junior.

FBI agents arrested Rogers outside his suburban home in the nation’s capital as he was walking his dog, who was named… wait for it… Prada. In my mind, anyone who names their pet after a high-end fashion line is always a suspect.

As is so often the case in these instances, he was lured by the prospect of romance:

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Rogers’ descent from senior Fed official to espionage suspect appears to have been driven by his desire for female companionship. This desire was exploited by a Chinese government agent, who became increasingly entwined in Rogers’ professional and personal life. Rogers’ indiscretion was later exploited by online blackmail scammers, ultimately leading to his downfall.

Rogers’ downfall began at a 2013 Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas conference in Shanghai when he was approached by a man now identified by the U.S. government as a Chinese spy. Over time, the pair grew closer by chatting over the internet. When Rogers, a lonely divorcé, came across a woman he fancied on the AsianDating.com website which he frequented, the spy helped him set up a meeting. That was the beginning of the end, as the lovestruck economist soon began turning over America’s financial secrets to the Chinese Communist Party.

It was all likely a setup, according to retired CIA veteran Ralph Goff:

Goff said Chinese intelligence was likely aware of the meeting. “If this woman wasn’t a plant by Chinese intelligence into that web dating site, then I’m sure that they had a meeting with her soon after that contact,” Goff said. He said Chinese intelligence could have told Yu Yu to pursue the relationship.

Prosecutors allege that Rogers took money for Fed secrets, which he denies ­­— but agents discovered $55,000 in mystery cash in his closet.

Rogers’ trial commenced in January, and in February he was convicted of making false statements but was acquitted on the charge of conspiracy to commit economic espionage. In July, he found out his punishment: 38 months in federal prison.

One might feel sorry for him; after all, he was a lonely aging guy who fell for an intriguing much younger woman. But U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office, which prosecuted Rogers, put that in perspective real quick:

John Rogers spent years secretly funneling sensitive Federal Reserve information to Chinese spies, then looked investigators in the eye and lied about it. And when that wasn’t enough, he lied again under oath at trial.

Somewhere, at a top-secret undisclosed location, Eric Swalwell is silently shaking his head, wondering: “What the heck were you thinking, John?!”