Smith was so impressed with the information Leung provided that he converted her into an FBI asset codename "Parlor Maid" in December of the same year. On March 16, 1984, Leung became a U.S. citizen with the help of Smith. The FBI had developed a plan for her to be recruited by the Chinese Ministry of State Security as an asset working as a double agent for the United States. In June 1984, Leung was recruited by the MSS believing that she was a low-level source of information at the FBI's Los Angeles office. Leung began receiving money from the FBI to pay for her expenses (the majority going towards flights to and from China). She passed two polygraph examinations: one in September 1984 and one in June 1986. Between 1985–1990, Leung's profile within the West Coast Chinese community and the FBI had risen significantly. Her connections within the community had become so extensive, she had entertained Chinese diplomatic officials as well as organized high-profile banquets for visiting PRC officials from the mainland. During this time, she met and charmed President of China Yang Shangkun who eventually became her patron. As a sign of her growing influence in the PRC, she advised the Chinese government in 1998 on a new location for their Los Angeles consulate. Up to this point, Leung's reports were well received by the Central Intelligence Agency, and much of her reporting during this time had also been verified by a Chinese defector. A sign of her growing influence within the FBI could be seen when she was sent to China shortly after the Tiananmen Square Massacre to report on the country's political climate during a time when the country's information flow had virtually ceased. In June 1990, the FBI learned that Leung had revealed to MSS officials the existence and location of a classified operation as well as classified details of the FBI's counterintelligence program. The FBI headquarters chief questioned Leung's handler Smith, who denied the allegations and successfully convinced his superior that she would never do such a thing without his authorization. Smith privately confronted Leung on May 31, 1991 about the unauthorized disclosure of information. In response, she told him that her Chinese handler "Mao" had discovered her double-agent identity and had coerced her into giving additional information. In April 1991, the FBI obtained an audio recording of a conversation between a woman identifying herself as "Luo" and a known PRC intelligence official identifying himself as "Mao". Special Agent William Cleveland, Jr. was brought in to listen to the tape and immediately recognized the woman's voice as Leung's.