A federal jury in Greenville, Tennessee, found a U.S. citizen guilty of conspiracy to steal trade secrets, economic espionage and wire fraud on the same day, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
After a 12-day trial, Dr. Xiaorong You, 59, was found guilty, the Justice Department said; also known as Shannon You. She was initially indicted in February 2019 for theft of trade secrets and wire fraud, and the latest indictment in August 2020 added charges of economic espionage and conspiracy to commit economic espionage.
According to court documents and depositions, Yoo stole trade secrets related to the formula for the “BPA-free” paint coating technology in beverage cans. The Justice Department said she gained access to the trade secrets as a result of her highly specialized positions as a lead global research engineer at The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia, and as a packaging application development manager at Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, Tennessee. access to these trade secrets. The stolen trade secrets belonged to several large chemical and coating companies.
Xiaorong You is accused of using her stolen trade secrets to open a new “BPA-free” spraying company in China. She and her Chinese partner, Weihai Jinhong Group, received millions of dollars in grants from the Chinese government to support the new company, including an award from the “Thousand Talents Program. The U.S. Department of Justice said court documents and other evidence show that the defendant’s purpose was to benefit not only the Weihai Jinhong Group, but also the Chinese government, the Chinese province of Shandong, and the Chinese city of Weihai, and that she intended to benefit the Chinese Communist Party.
Until recently, manufacturers had used bisphenol A (BPA) to spray the inside of food and beverage cans to reduce loss of taste and to prevent containers from corroding or reacting chemically with food or beverages. However, because of the health hazards of BPA, some companies began looking for BPA-free alternatives, and this research and development cost a lot of money and time.
The U.S. Department of Justice said that Xiaorong You is scheduled to receive a sentencing ruling on Nov. 1.
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