Chinese businessman charged in scheme to steal GE trade secrets
WASHINGTON – Chi Lung Winsman Ng, aka Winsman Ng, 64, a Chinese businessman residing in Hong Kong, was indicted yesterday for conspiring to steal General Electric’s (GE) trade secrets involving the company’s silicon carbide MOSFET technology worth millions of dollars.
“Winsman Ng and his co-conspirators allegedly chose to steal
what they lacked the time, talent or money to create,” said Assistant Attorney
General John C. Demers of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
“Theft of American intellectual property for the benefit of foreign firms
deprives American companies of the fruits of their creativity and American
workers of their jobs. The Department will do all it can to disrupt this
illegal and economically destructive conduct.”
“As alleged in the indictment, Winsman Ng conspired to steal
trade secrets from General Electric to start a competitor,” said Attorney for
the United States, Elizabeth C. Coombe, for the Northern District of New York,
Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515. “This scheme, and others
like it, seek to undermine American ingenuity, which often depends on
maintaining the secrecy of technological advances. We will continue to work
with the FBI to hold accountable those trying to steal trade secrets from
innovative companies in our district.”
“Innovation by American companies brings good things into
our lives, but we shouldn’t have to buy those good things from a foreign
company that stole American technology to compete against us,” said Assistant
Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “The FBI
urges any U.S. business to contact us if they suspect someone, regardless of
nationality, is attempting to steal or has stolen trade secrets. Only through
robust engagement with U.S. businesses can we protect our economic and national
security.”
“According to the indictment, Mr. Ng conspired to steal
valuable and sensitive technology from GE and produce it in China,” said
Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. Relford of the FBI’s Albany Field Office.
“Our office, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and GE coordinated closely and worked
quickly to prevent that theft and the resulting damage to our economic
security. Theft of trade secrets is a constant and dangerous threat to our
American companies and the remarkable work they do to invent and manufacture
unique technology that can change the world. FBI Albany's Counterintelligence
Task Force remains committed to protecting American innovation and technology,
American security and American jobs.”
The charge in the indictment is merely an accusation. The
defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The indictment alleges that between about March 2017 and
January 2018, Ng and at least one co-conspirator plotted to develop a business
that would manufacture and sell silicon carbide MOSFETs using trade secrets
stolen from GE. MOSFETs, or silicon carbide metal-oxide semiconductor
field-effect transistors, are small electronic semiconductors/switches that
regulate the flow of electricity through devices and are used in a variety of
products.
Ng conspired with at least one other person, a GE engineer
of more than seven years, to steal MOSFET trade secrets and other proprietary
information from GE. Ng and co-conspirator #1 allegedly used those trade
secrets to create a business plan and develop PowerPoint presentations which
they gave to prospective investors. Ng and co-conspirator #1 told potential
investors that their business could be profitable within three years and that
their start-up business possessed assets – tangible and intangible – they
estimated to be worth $100 million. As part of the scheme, they sought
approximately $30 million in funding in exchange for an ownership stake in
their start-up company. In August 2017, Ng and co-conspirator #1 allegedly met
in China and gave presentations to a Chinese investment company that was
considering providing funding to Ng’s start-up company.
We have no evidence that there was an illegal MOSFET
technology transfer to any Chinese companies, including the company that Ng and
his co-conspirator were trying to start.
Ng has yet to be arrested. If convicted of this offense, Ng
faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
This case is being investigated by the FBI Albany Field
Office, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss and Trial
Attorney Matthew Chang of the National Security Division, Counterintelligence
and Export Control Section.
Comments
Post a Comment