Major Export Enforcement Cases - Directorate of Defense Trade ...
Major Export Enforcement Cases - Directorate of Defense Trade ...
Major Export Enforcement Cases - Directorate of Defense Trade ...
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negotiated employment with Nippon Paint, in Shanghai, China and accepted employment with<br />
Nippon as vice president <strong>of</strong> technology and administrator <strong>of</strong> research and development. Lee was<br />
scheduled to fly from Chicago to Shanghai on March 27, 2009. He did not inform Valspar that he<br />
had accepted a job at Nippon until he resigned on March 16, 2009. Between November 2008 and<br />
March 2009, Lee downloaded technical documents and materials belonging to Valspar, including<br />
the paint formula batch tickets. He further copied certain downloaded files to external thumb<br />
drives to store the data, knowing that he intended to use the confidential information belong to<br />
Valspar for his own benefit. There was no evidence that he actually disclosed any <strong>of</strong> the stolen<br />
trade secrets. This investigation was conducted by the FBI.<br />
Digital Microwave Radios to Iran – On Nov. 23, 2010, Vikramiditya Singh, a resident <strong>of</strong><br />
Fountain Hills, Arizona, and the owner <strong>of</strong> Orion Telecom Networks, Inc., pleaded guilty in the<br />
District <strong>of</strong> Delaware to a one count information alleging that he caused and attempted to cause the<br />
illegal export <strong>of</strong> digital microwave radios to Iran between Sept. 2008 and May 2010. On March<br />
3, 2011, he was sentenced to a fine <strong>of</strong> $100,000 and three years probation. This case was<br />
investigated by ICE.<br />
Ford Motor Company <strong>Trade</strong> Secrets to China – On Nov. 17, 2010, Yu Xiang Dong, aka Mike<br />
Yu, a product engineer with Ford Motor Company pleaded guilty in the Eastern District <strong>of</strong><br />
Michigan to two counts <strong>of</strong> theft <strong>of</strong> trade secrets. According to the plea agreement, Yu was a<br />
Product Engineer for Ford from 1997 to 2007 and had access to Ford trade secrets, including Ford<br />
design documents. In December 2006, Yu accepted a job at the China branch <strong>of</strong> a U.S. company.<br />
On the eve <strong>of</strong> his departure from Ford and before he told Ford <strong>of</strong> his new job, Yu copied some<br />
4,000 Ford documents onto an external hard drive, including sensitive Ford design documents.<br />
Ford spent millions <strong>of</strong> dollars and decades on research, development, and testing to develop and<br />
improve the design specifications set forth in these documents. On Dec. 20, 2006, Yu traveled to<br />
the location <strong>of</strong> his new employer in Shenzhen, China, taking the Ford trade secrets with him. On<br />
Jan. 2, 2007, Yu emailed his Ford supervisor from China and informed him that he was leaving<br />
Ford’s employ. In Nov. 2008, Yu began working for Beijing Automotive Company, a direct<br />
competitor <strong>of</strong> Ford. On Oct. 19, 2009, Yu returned to the U.S. Upon his arrival, he was arrested.<br />
At that time, Yu had in his possession his Beijing Automotive Company laptop computer. Upon<br />
examination <strong>of</strong> that computer, the FBI discovered that 41 Ford system design specifications<br />
documents had been copied to the defendant’s Beijing Automotive Company work computer. The<br />
FBI also discovered that each <strong>of</strong> those design documents had been accessed by Yu during the<br />
time <strong>of</strong> his employment with Beijing Automotive Company. Yu was ultimately sentenced to 70<br />
months in prison in April 2011. This case was investigated by the FBI.<br />
Fully Automatic AK-47 Machine Guns to Drug Cartels in Mexico – On Nov. 9, 2010, Julian<br />
Garcia-Penaloza (aka Martin Ramirez-Rodriguez) was sentenced in the Northern District <strong>of</strong><br />
Florida to 572 months in prison after pleading guilty on Aug. 17, 2010 to conspiracy to export<br />
machine guns to Mexico, conspiracy to possess and transfer machine guns, as well as additional<br />
drug and firearm charges. On June 22, 2010, a federal indictment was returned charging Garcia-<br />
Penaloza and Ramiro Gomez-Gomez, both <strong>of</strong> Mexico, with conspiracy to illegally export 50<br />
fully-automatic AK-47 machine guns to Mexico for use by drug cartels. According to the<br />
indictment, Gomez-Gomez told an undercover agent that he had a contact in Mexico who was<br />
seeking 800 AK-47s. The defendants also allegedly indicated they were also willing to purchase<br />
grenades, bulletpro<strong>of</strong> vests, and ammunition for Mexican cartel operatives. Ultimately, the<br />
defendants arranged for $23,000 as a down payment for the purchase <strong>of</strong> 50 fully-automatic AK-<br />
47s. Gomez-Gomez and Garcia-Penaloza were also charged with illegal possession <strong>of</strong> firearms<br />
and drug violations. The indictment charged five other defendants, including Santiago Valdez-<br />
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