Houston-Area Engineers Accused of Stealing Trade Secrets to Benefit Chinese Military
Houston-area engineers allegedly partnered with the Chinese government to steal trade secrets from a local offshore drilling company — and are now accused of participating in an elaborate scheme that ultimately may have benefited the Chinese military.
That's according to an FBI investigation that wrapped up this week, resulting in federal charges of conspiracy to steal trade secrets and a civil forfeiture complaint against the apparently conniving but very lazy masterminds who would rather illegally piggyback on someone else's innovation than do it themselves.
Shan Shi of Houston, Uka Kalu Uche of Spring, Samuel Abotar Ogoe of Missouri City and Johnny Wade Randall of Conroe, all American citizens, have been arrested and charged with conspiring to steal trade secrets. Kui Bo, a Canadian citizen in Houston and Gang Liu, a Chinese national in Houston, also were charged. Huang Hui, also a Chinese national but living in China, also has been charged.
According to the FBI, Shan Shi set up a company in Houston called CBM International in 2012 (CBMI), a company that almost exclusively received its funding from China's own CBM Future New Material Science and Technology (CBMF). That year, China had made it a national goal to develop its marine engineering industry —specifically to find a way to manufacture "syntactic foam," a material that can either be used for oil exploration or for military purposes, in submarines, aerospace technology and stealth technology. Only four companies in the world dominate the industry — and CBMF intended to be the fifth.
Read more: http://www.houstonpress.com/news/six-engineers-in-houston-charged-in-plot-to-steal-trade-secrets-to-benefit-china-9467242
