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Chemours Employee Guilty of Trade Secrets Theft
A former employee of The Chemours Company has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal trade secrets, a crime that could put the company’s sodium cyanide business at risk.
Jerry Jindong Xu, a Canadian citizen, admitted to stealing dozens of confidential files from Chemours, including trade secret information about the company’s sodium cyanide business. The files included pricing and other information, as well as passwords for spreadsheets.
Xu, who was employed by Chemours in Ontario, Canada from 2011 to 2016, used his legitimate employment duties to accumulate the confidential information. He also used various personal email accounts to transfer the information to himself and others, and communicated with co-conspirators using an encrypted Chinese-based messaging service.
The motive behind the theft was to lure Chinese investors into the sodium cyanide market, with the goal of building a plant in Canada in direct competition with Chemours. Xu even asked for and received a tour of Chemours’ primary sodium cyanide manufacturing plant, during which he secretly took pictures of plant system diagrams and sent them to himself.
The investigation, led by the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, uncovered a complex web of deceit and corruption. Xu was arrested in New York in August 2017 and arraigned in Wilmington on September 28, 2017. He is currently being detained until sentencing.
“U.S. companies, like Chemours, invest millions of dollars to develop proprietary products and technologies. The theft of these trade secrets so that investors from other countries, like China, can gain an unfair advantage is unacceptable,” said U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss.
Xu faces a maximum punishment of ten years imprisonment and up to three years of supervised release. No date has been scheduled for the sentencing hearing.
Key Facts
- State: Delaware
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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