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Former Employee Stole Ford Secrets Worth $50 Million

Posted by Soulskill on from the yu-did-it dept.

chicksdaddy writes "A ten year veteran of US automaker Ford pleaded guilty in federal court on November 17 to charges that he stole company secrets, including design documents, valued at between $50 million and $100 million, and shared them with his new employer: the Chinese division of a US rival of Ford's. Xiang Dong ('Mike') Yu admitted to copying some 4,000 Ford Documents to an external hard drive, including design specifications for key components of Ford automobiles, after surreptitiously taking a job with a China-based competitor in 2006. Yu, who took a job for Beijing Automotive Company in 2008, was arrested during a stopover at Chicago in October, 2009. The FBI seized his Beijing Automotive-issued laptop, and an analysis found 41 stolen Ford specification documents on the hard drive. He faces five to six years in prison and a $150,000 fine (PDF)."

4 of 236 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Wake up, people. by mbone · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I bet that hypothetical American Engineer would avoid stop-overs in Beijing.

  2. Re:Wake up, people. by afidel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It could also be that the design docs were from the manufacturing process rather than the product itself. The process engineering behind a plant could easily be worth significantly more than even $100M because the plants today cost upwards of $1B to design, build, and furnish and the lifetime efficiency gains for a well engineered plant can also reach into the billions.

    --
    There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  3. Re:Does this mean all the Chinese cars are going t by happyhamster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >>Europe (is it flamebait to say they are better because they are away from US unions?)

    Probably yes, because:

    1) Workers in good old Europe have stronger unions than the withering joke the U.S. has.

    2) European workers enjoy a terrific safety net which looks like the great wall of china compared to the spider web the U.S. wage slaves have. Never underestimate explosion of creativity in a geek who feels safe for economic future of his family.

  4. Sentence by Andy+Smith · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "five to six years in prison and a $150,000 fine"

    Can you imagine how awfully unbalanced it would seem if people got lesser sentences for causing death by dangerous driving?