Four U.S. citizens, two Chinese nationals, and a Canadian national have all been charged by the U.S. Justice Department with stealing the trade secrets of a Houston based company that make a product known as “syntactic foam” – a material used in underwater military equipment (e.g. submarines) and other under water vehicles.
According to the Justice Department’s statement, the China-based company set up a subsidiary in Houston where its executives targeted U.S. employees with knowledge on how to produce the foam. Through cash payments and high-paying positions, the newly-formed subsidiary lured several former and current employees from the Houston company to spill the trade secrets, which were then passed to the China-based company. Soon the China-based company began selling the syntactic foam at low price, even boldly pitching some product to the Houston-based company—the company it stole from.
Sources report that in April 2017 the conspirators were caught through a sting operation conducted by the FBI.
The full press release can be found here:
www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/seven-people-charged-conspiring-steal-trade-secrets-benefit-chinese-manufacturing-company
According to the Justice Department’s statement, the China-based company set up a subsidiary in Houston where its executives targeted U.S. employees with knowledge on how to produce the foam. Through cash payments and high-paying positions, the newly-formed subsidiary lured several former and current employees from the Houston company to spill the trade secrets, which were then passed to the China-based company. Soon the China-based company began selling the syntactic foam at low price, even boldly pitching some product to the Houston-based company—the company it stole from.
Sources report that in April 2017 the conspirators were caught through a sting operation conducted by the FBI.
The full press release can be found here:
www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/seven-people-charged-conspiring-steal-trade-secrets-benefit-chinese-manufacturing-company
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