The Justice Department has charged the proprietors of a China-based firm for their alleged involvement in pilfering trade secrets from a U.S. electric vehicle company. The department alleges that trade secrets worth millions of dollars were dispatched to undercover law enforcement officers.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said, "The defendants stand accused of stealing valuable proprietary technology from a U.S. electric car manufacturer and using it to set up a rival business overseas." He added, "This blatant theft of advanced trade secrets relating to battery components and assembly blunts America’s technological edge, and the Justice Department will hold accountable those who would try to cheat our country of its economic potential and threaten our national security."
According to the narrative, the two owners established their company in China with the intention of utilizing stolen trade secrets pertaining to the manufacturing of electric vehicles. They are accused of illicitly obtaining research and development secrets from an American firm. A press release by the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that the implicated parties own a Chinese company that markets technology used in battery production for electric vehicles. The complaint alleges that Klaus Pflugbeil and Yilong Shao, employees at the victimized company, had been planning to steal data since at least 2019. In 2023, after being approached by undercover agents, Pflugbeil transmitted a comprehensive 66-page technical document containing trade secrets from his employer.
In October and November 2019, Pflugbeil and Shao reportedly planned to exploit the stolen trade secrets by establishing their own company. If convicted on these charges, Pflugbeil could face up to ten years in prison.
