Apple: Ex-Chinese engineer accused of data theft – 05/16/2023 – Tech

The United States on Tuesday announced charges against several Chinese and Russians for alleged theft of trade secrets and violation of sanctions for trying to export sensitive technology.

Among those accused is former Apple software engineer Weibao Wang, 35, who allegedly stole the company’s software on developing self-driving cars. Weibao fled the United States for China hours after his home was searched in 2018.

Another Chinese, Xiangjiang Qiao, 39, known as Joe Hansen, was accused of having tried to supply Iran with materials used in the production of weapons of mass destruction. He’s on the run in China.

The former Apple engineer previously resided in Mountain View, Calif., and was hired by the company in 2016, according to an April indictment released Tuesday.

In 2017, he took a job in the United States at a Chinese company working on developing self-driving cars before resigning from Apple, but waited about four months before informing the company of his new job, according to the indictment.

After his last day at Apple, the company discovered that he had accessed large amounts of private data in the days before he left, the Justice Department said. Some federal agents searched his home in June 2018 and found “large amounts” of Apple data, he added. Shortly after the search, he boarded a plane bound for China, the department said.

Apple’s automotive efforts, known as Project Titan, have been going on and off since 2014, when the company started designing a vehicle from scratch. A December report said the company had pushed back the car’s planned launch to 2026, while reports filed with the State of California show Apple is testing vehicles on California roads.

Apple declined to comment on the case.

In another China-related case, Liming Li, 64, was arrested for allegedly stealing technology from two US companies where he worked to supply it to Chinese companies, US officials said. Advanced technology was used in the manufacture of parts for nuclear submarines and military aircraft.

“We remain vigilant in enforcing US law to stop the flow of sensitive technology to our foreign adversaries,” Deputy Attorney General Matthew Olsen said in making the allegations public.

Other cases are linked to the dismantling of alleged networks that helped Russian intelligence services obtain military technology and parts for American planes, US officials said.

Charges have been filed against a Greek man accused of smuggling military and dual-use (both civil and defense) technology into Russia, including sophisticated equipment used in nuclear weapons tests.

Nikolaos Bogonikolos, 59, was detained in France and the United States has asked for his extradition, said Breon Peace, federal prosecutor for the eastern district of New York. According to him, Bogonikolos, who ran the company Aratos Group, “conspired with a network of companies orchestrated by the Russian intelligence services to fraudulently acquire and later smuggle US-origin military and dual-use technologies in order to help the Russian defense and security sectors”.

In another Moscow-linked case, Russians Oleg Patsulya and Vasilii Besedin were arrested for trying to illegally export civilian aircraft parts from the United States, US officials said.