A Chinese chemical engineer was
sentenced to 14 years in prison for
stealing trade secrets on drink can
coatings to establish a Chinese company
backed by the Chinese government.
Xiaorong “Shannon” You, 59, was
sentenced on Monday by a federal judge
in Greeneville, Tennessee, on the charges
of conspiracy to commit trade secret
theft, conspiracy to commit economic
espionage, possession of stolen trade
secrets, economic espionage and wire
fraud. In addition, she is ordered to pay a
$200,000 fine and serve three years of
supervised release.
“Stealing technology isn’t just a crime
against a company,” Acting Assistant
Director Bradley S. Benavides of the FBI’s
Counterintelligence Division said in a
release. “It’s a crime against American
workers whose jobs and livelihoods are
impacted.”
You stole valuable information related to
bisphenol-A-free (BPA-free) coatings
found inside beverage cans. BPA was
used to help lessen flavor loss and
prevent cans from corroding. Companies
began developing BPA-free alternatives
because of BPA’s potential health risks.
You was the principal engineer for global
research at Coca-Cola from December
2012 through August 2017. She also
became a packaging application
development manager at Eastman
Chemical from September 2017 through
June 2018.
The trade secrets cost coating companies
about $120 million to develop.
You hoped to establish a BPA-free coating
company in China. She and her corporate
partner, Weihai Jinhong Group, received
millions of dollars in Chinese government
grants to support the new company.
Prosecutors said that You also intended to
benefit Shandong Province, the city of
Weihai and the Chinese Communist Party.
“When companies invest huge amounts
of time and money to develop world-class
technologies, only to have those
technologies stolen, the results are
devastating,” Assistant Attorney General
Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division said.
“Here, the defendant intended not only to
enrich herself and her China-based
partners, but also the government of
China. Crimes like the defendant’s
threaten both victim companies and the
economic security of the nation as a
whole. This case should serve as a
warning to those entrusted with valuable
trade secrets: if you break the law, you
will be punished.”


Source: https://news.yahoo.com/ex-coca-cola-chemist-sentenced-234210142.html
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