NEW YORK
Officials stated that a New York man was sentenced to 24 months in prison for conspiring to steal General Electric’s (GE) trade secrets for China’s benefit, according to officials.
Xiaoqing Zheng, 59, of Niskayuna, New York, was convicted of conspiracy to commit economic espionage following a four-week jury trial that ended on March 31, 2022.
According to court documents, Zheng was employed at GE Power in Schenectady, New York, as an engineer specializing in turbine sealing technology.
He worked at GE from 2008 until the summer of 2018.
The trial evidence indicated that Zheng and others in China conspired to steal GE’s trade secrets surrounding GE’s ground-based and aviation-based turbine technologies.
“This is a case of textbook economic espionage. Zheng exploited his position of trust, betrayed his employer, and conspired with the government of China to steal innovative American technology,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
“American ingenuity is an integral part of the United States economic security – it is what has guided the U.S. to become the global leader, even as China seeks to topple our status,” said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI Counterintelligence Division. “Xiaoqing Zheng was a Thousand Talents Program member and willingly stole proprietary technology and sent it back to the PRC.”
U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino also sentenced Zheng to pay a $7,500 fine.
The FBI investigated this case.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Belliss, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Powers for the Northern District of New York, and Trial Attorney Matthew Chang of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.