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Junjie Zhang, 57, Attempted to Steal Proprietary Information for China
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Junjie Zhang, a naturalized United States citizen from China, attempted to take confidential data and proprietary information belonging to his employer to China. Zhang, a senior material and process engineer for an aviation company in Wichita, lied to U.S. customs officials while attempting to board a flight to the People’s Republic of China.
According to court documents, Zhang, also known as Jeff Zhang, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement. In September 2019, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stopped Zhang at an airport in Dallas, Texas, as he was attempting to board a flight to China. During an interview, agents asked if he had any work-related information on his electronic devices to which he responded, “no”. Zhang told the agents the thumb drive and laptop he carried only contained personal information.
However, when CBP agents examined the devices, they discovered documents belonging to Zhang’s employer marked “Proprietary” and “Confidential” along with graphs and blueprints associated with the aviation company’s work. Zhang then changed his story to say that his employer had given him permission to have the documents.
CBP alerted the FBI who contacted Zhang’s employer. The company informed the FBI that Zhang was not authorized to have confidential documents on his personal devices or to leave the country with that information.
“The cost of intellectual property theft ultimately falls on consumers. Not only are hackers a risk for this theft but so are insider threats from rogue employees,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. “The FBI and Customs and Border Protection work tirelessly to safeguard the hard-earned intellectual property of Americans and their companies from theft.”
According to investigators, the proprietary data on Zhang’s devices is estimated to be valued at more than $100,000. Zhang is scheduled to be sentenced on July 23, 2026. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Rask and Taylor Hines are prosecuting the case.
Key Facts
- State: Kansas
- Category: Cybercrime|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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