Two scientists from China working in the US have been indicted in Kansas on charges alleging they stole seeds developed by a US bioscience company and gave them to an agricultural delegation visiting from China.
A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted Weiqiang Zhang and Wengui Yan on one count each of conspiracy to steal trade secrets and one count of theft of trade secrets.
Zhang, an agricultural seed breeder at Ventria Bioscience’s facility in Junction City, and Yan, a US Department of Agriculture research geneticist at the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart, Arkansas, were initially charged last week with conspiracy to steal trade secrets.
Zhang was being held at a detention centre in Leavenworth. Yan has been detained in Arkansas. Federal public defenders appointed to represent the two men did not immediately return calls seeking comment Friday.
The two are accused of stealing Ventria rice seeds containing proteins used for therapeutic purposes. The seeds were protected by Ventria as “confidential and propriety information,” the indictment said. Ventria, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, did not respond to an email seeking comment on Friday.
According to the federal complaint filed last week, the company told federal authorities it was the only US producer of those particular seeds and that if they were stolen and the technology compromised “its entire research and development investment would be compromised.” The company said its investment in developing the seeds ranged from US$3 million to US$18 million.