A Chinese national pleaded guilty on Thursday to stealing agricultural secrets in the United States, intended to reach the hands of scientists across the Atlantic. Xiang Haitao, residing in Chesterfield, Missouri, held a position with Monsanto and its subsidiary, The Climate Corporation, between 2008 and 2017.
Monsanto and The Climate Corporation have developed an online platform for farmers to manage field and yield information with the goal of improving land productivity. One aspect of this technology was an algorithm called Nutrient Optimizer, which US prosecutors said was considered “a valuable trade secret and their intellectual property.”
According to US authorities, the former employee stole the information “for the benefit of a foreign government, namely the People’s Republic of China.” In June 2017, Xiang Haitao left these companies and boarded a flight to China a day later. The 44-year-old came to the attention of airport officials who carried out a search – it was only later that investigators found copies of the Nutrient Optimizer stored on his electronic devices.
Race for technological secrets
The scientist was still able to leave the United States and began working for the Institute of Soil Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. However, on a return trip to the United States, he was arrested and charged. The Chinese national has submitted to the charge of conspiring to commit an act of economic espionage and faces up to 15 years behind bars, a maximum of three years on probation and a fine of up to 5 million. dollars. The sentence is due on April 7.
“Mr. Xiang took advantage of his insider status in a large international corporation to steal valuable trade secrets for use in his native China,” said Eastern Missouri District Attorney Sayler Fleming. “We cannot allow US citizens or foreign nationals to hand over sensitive business information to competitors in other countries, and we will continue to vigorously enforce economic espionage and trade secrets laws. “
Monsanto, for its part, pleaded guilty in December to 30 “environmental crimes”, including the illegal use of a pesticide banned in Hawaii. The plea deal provides for a fine of $ 12 million. Bayer completed the Monsanto acquisition in 2018 and now faces potential class action lawsuits from investors and a $ 2.5 billion claim for failed due diligence allegations.
Source: ZDNet.com