Ex-GM engineer, husband convicted of trade secrets theft
An ex-General Motors Co. engineer and her husband were convicted of stealing trade secrets on hybrid-car technology from the automaker to help develop such vehicles in China
An ex-General Motors Co. engineer and her husband were convicted of stealing trade secrets on hybrid-car technology from the automaker to help develop such vehicles in China.
A federal court jury in Detroit reached the guilty verdicts yesterday after a trial that started Nov. 5. Jurors began deliberating Nov. 29.
The US claimed Shanshan Du, the ex-GM employee, copied the Detroit-based company’s private information on the motor control of hybrids and provided documents to her husband, Yu Qin. Prosecutors accused Qin of using the data to seek business ventures or employment with GM’s competitors, including the Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co.
Qin was convicted of all seven counts. Du was convicted on three trade-secret counts, including conspiracy to possess trade secrets without authorisation. She was acquitted on wire fraud charges.
General Motors contended that the secrets are worth more than $40 million, prosecutors said. Lawyers for both defendants, who pleaded not guilty, argued that the information didn’t consist of trade secrets, wasn’t stolen and was useless for other companies.
Robert Morgan, Du’s attorney, declined to comment after the verdict. Frank Eaman, Qin’s lawyer, didn’t immediately respond to a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.