Chinese National Sentenced for Stealing Trade Secrets Worth $1 Billion
A former associate scientist
was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison in federal court today for stealing proprietary information worth more than $1 billion from his employer, a U.S. petroleum company.
In November 2019,
Tan pleaded guilty to theft of a trade secret, unauthorized transmission of a trade secret, and unauthorized possession of a trade secret.
From June 2017 until December 2018,
Tan was employed as an associate scientist at the petroleum company and was assigned to work in a group
with the goal of developing next generation battery technologies for stationary energy storage, specifically flow batteries.
In his plea agreement,
Tan admitted to intentionally copying and downloading the technologies’ research and development materials without authorization from his employer.
OPA | Department of Justice
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chinese-national-sentenced-stealing-trade-secrets-worth-1-billion