China-based Canadian stole Tesla secrets, US prosecutors say
- Klaus Pflugbeil, the operator of a China-based business that sells technology used in electric vehicles, was arrested in New York
- Prosecutors said Pflugbeil planned to sell the trade secrets to undercover agents whom he had believed were businesspeople
A Canadian resident of China has been arrested in the United States for allegedly stealing electric car manufacturer Tesla’s trade secrets and conspiring to sell them to undercover police.
Klaus Pflugbeil, the operator of a China-based business that sells technology used in electric vehicles, was arrested on Tuesday in New York, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said.
He had travelled for a meeting with undercover agents whom he had believed were Long Island businesspeople, prosecutors said.
Tesla offers China-made electric cars for sale in Canada
They are charged with conspiracy to transmit trade secrets, which carries up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Both Pflugbeil and Shao are former employees of the Canadian company, prosecutors said.
“The defendants set up a company in China, blatantly stole trade secrets from an American company that are important to manufacturing electric vehicles, and which cost many millions of dollars in research and development, and sold products developed with the stolen trade secrets,” Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement with officials with the Justice Department and FBI.
A lawyer for Pflugbeil did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment Tuesday night. Shao could not be reached for comment.
Tesla also did not immediately return an email message.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
