Washington, United States  (AFP)—Twelve Chinese nationals, including two public security ministry officers, have been indicted for a series of hacking attacks, including a 2024 breach of the US Treasury, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Other alleged victims include US-based Chinese dissidents, the foreign ministries of several Asian countries, religious organizations and additional US federal and state government agencies, the department said.

Eight employees of a Chinese company called Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd, also known as i-Soon, and two Ministry of Public Security officers were indicted in New York for involvement in the alleged hacking of email accounts, cell phones, servers, and websites between 2016 and 2023.

“For years, these 10 defendants -— two of whom we allege are (People’s Republic of China – PRC) officials — used sophisticated hacking techniques to target religious organizations, journalists, and government agencies, all to gather sensitive information for the use of the PRC,” acting US attorney Matthew Podolsky said in a statement.

The Justice Department said the private Chinese hackers were paid in some cases by the Chinese ministries of public security and state security to exploit specific victims.

“In many other cases, the hackers targeted victims speculatively,” it said, identifying vulnerable computers and then selling hacked information to the Chinese government.

All 20 defendants remain at large and the State Department offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to their arrest.

The hacking targets allegedly included a religious organization that sent missionaries to China, an organization focused on promoting human rights and religious freedom in China, a Hong Kong newspaper and the foreign ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea and Indonesia.