(DailyVantage.com) – On Tuesday, the US government announced charges concerning five separate investigations involving alleged attempts to steal technology to aid China, Russia, and Iran.
Weibao Wang, 35, is a former Apple Inc. engineer suspected of stealing proprietary information related to self-driving cars and evading capture by escaping to China.
The indictment against Wang in April made public on Tuesday, states that he worked as an Apple engineer in 2016 and formerly resided in Mountain View, California.
The indictment explains that Wang agreed to keep Apple’s business secrets in exchange for a job at the company. And the corporation gave him face-to-face training in secrecy, including handling sensitive information properly.
After Wang’s last day at Apple on April 16, 2018, Apple representatives reportedly analyzed access logs detailing Wang’s past network behavior.
They found on his final day that he had downloaded extensive amounts of confidential information in the days leading up to his departure. According to the report, federal officials raided his residence in June 2018 and uncovered “large quantities” of data belonging to Apple. According to the agency, he fled to China.
One count is filed against Wang for each of the six types of trade secrets that he is accused of stealing or attempting to steal.
According to the DoJ, Wang faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison for each count.
Information espionage is a top priority of the DOJ.
US authorities have also brought charges against California resident Liming Li (64), who allegedly took secrets from his California employers to start a competitive company in China.
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