US charges two with espionage in Chinese trade secrets theft
Two men have been charged with conspiracy to commit economic espionage for the benefit of a Chinese company, one year after being indicted for conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets.
Shan Shi, a citizen of Houston, and Chinese national Gang Liu were charged on Thursday, April 26.
The two had been acting for the benefit of CBM-Future New Material Science and Technology (CBMF), a Chinese company based in Taizhou.
According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, Shi and Lui conspired with others to commit economic espionage and steal trade secrets from a US engineering firm that produces syntactic foam. The foam is a strong and lightweight material with commercial and military uses.
The latest indictment includes the trade secrets theft charge, adds the count of conspiracy to commit economic espionage against Shi and Liu, and includes a count of federal money laundering conspiracy against Shi.
CBMF and its Houston-based subsidiary have also been indicted on all three charges.
The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
The maximum statutory penalty for conspiracy to commit economic espionage is 15 years in prison. For theft of trade secrets, the maximum is ten years’ imprisonment, and the maximum for conspiracy to commit money laundering is 20 years.
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