The FBI has released details of a federal indictment of a couple charged with conspiracy to possess trade secrets without authorization, unauthorized possession of trade secrets, and wire fraud. Shannon Du and Yu Chin are charged with stealing thousands of GM documents regarding to the company's hybrid technology worth an estimated 40 million dollars.
According to the press release,
According to the indictment, from December 2003 and continuing through May 2006, the defendants conspired to possess trade secret information of General Motors Company relating to hybrid vehicles, knowing that the information had been stolen, converted, or obtained without authorization. The indictment alleges that Du, while employed with GM, provided GM trade secret information relating to hybrid vehicles to her husband, Qin, for his benefit and for the benefit of a company, Millennium Technology International Inc. (MTI), that the defendants owned and operated. Approximately five days after Du was offered a severance agreement by GM in January 2005, she copied thousands of GM documents, including trade secret documents, to an external computer hard drive used for MTI business. A few months later, Qin moved forward on a new business venture to provide hybrid vehicle technology to Chery Automobile, a Chinese automotive manufacturer based in China and a competitor of GM. The indictment further alleges that in May 2006, the defendants possessed GM trade secret information without authorization on several computer and electronic devices located in their residence.
