A man from New York was sentenced to 2 years in prison. The reason is that he conspired to steal GE secrets for the benefit of China. The name of the man is Xiaoqing Zheng. He is 59 years old. As per the Justice Department, the man conspired to commit economic espionage.
The trade secrets of General Electric can benefit China, as per the U.S. Justice Department. Mae D’Agostino, the District Judge of the U.S., sentenced Zheng to pay a fine of $7,500. Also, the man needs to spend 1 year of post-imprisonment supervised release.
As per the officials of the U.S., the Chinese Government poses the highest long-term threat. It targets the national security and economy of the U.S. As per reports, China is carrying out unprecedented efforts to steal crucial technology. However, the main targets for this are U.S. researchers and businesses. However, China is against all these allegations.
Zheng was an employee at GE Power in Schenectady, New York. He was an engineer specializing in turbine sealing tech. He worked there from 2008 to 2018.
According to the trial evidence, Zheng and several others in China were conspiring to steal GE Secrets. However, the trade secrets surrounded aviation-based and ground-based turbine technologies. It will benefit China and the companies based in China. Also, it would have benefitted the universities researching and manufacturing turbine parts.
Zheng has exploited his position of trust and betrayed his employer. Also, he conspired with the Chinese Government to steal American technology.
The U.S. had accused the former GE Engineer and a Chinese businessman, Zhaoxi Zhang. The person was also stealing secrets and spying on GE to aid China.
A U.S. federal court in Cincinnati sentenced a Chinese national to 20 years imprisonment. However, the person was plotting to steal trade secrets from multiple U.S. aerospace and aviation companies.
A lot of people are already after GE. Earlier it happened, and it is still happening now. However, employers are putting efforts into safeguarding their assets and missions.
Credits: CNBC
