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Trade Secrets Thief Arrested in Niskayuna
Xiaoqing Zheng, 55, of Niskayuna, New York, was arrested today in connection with the theft of trade secrets belonging to General Electric (GE).
According to a criminal complaint, Zheng, an engineer employed by General Electric, used an elaborate and sophisticated means to remove electronic files containing GE’s trade secrets involving its turbine technologies.
Specifically, Zheng is alleged to have used steganography to hide data files belonging to GE into an innocuous looking digital picture of a sunset, and then to have e-mailed the digital picture, which contained the stolen GE data files, to Zheng’s e-mail account.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Grant C. Jaquith for the Northern District of New York, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Charles Margiotta of the FBI’s Albany Division made the announcement.
Zheng appeared today in federal court in Albany, New York, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel and was ordered detained without bail pending a hearing scheduled for August 2, at 1:30 p.m.
The charge filed against Zheng carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to three years.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss of the Northern District of New York, and Trial Attorneys Jason McCullough and Matt Chang of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Zheng is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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