The officer allegedly disclosed the confidential records of at least 28 individuals and used his position to make arrests as a favor to friends.
NEW YORK—A U.S. law enforcement officer who oversees deportations was arrested on Nov. 21 over alleged identity theft and the leaking of confidential government records.
Henry Yau, a 41-year-old man from New York, allegedly disclosed sensitive and non-public information concerning at least 28 individuals, according to a federal indictment filed on Nov. 19.
Yau allegedly pulled the records from agencies such as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and the Citizenship and Immigration Services, and passed the details on to at least 12 non-law enforcement personnel, including a former director for the New York mayor’s office, the court filing said.
Prosecutors accused Yau of tipping off a man under FBI investigation and arresting people as a favor to his friends.
Yau was arrested on the morning of Nov. 21 and appeared before Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron at the New York Southern District Court in lower Manhattan.
Yau, an ICE deportation officer since 2015, rose to a supervisory role at the agency in September 2021, which he held until his resignation