US Indicts Chinese National For Trying To Steal Monsanto Trade Secrets - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd November, 2019) A Chinese national who worked at the Monsanto agribusiness corporation has been indicted by a US grand jury on economic espionage charges, the Justice Department said in a press release.

"Haitao Xiang, 42... was indicted today by a Federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to commit economic espionage, three counts of economic espionage, one count of conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets and three counts of theft of trade secrets," the release said on Thursday.

Xiang, who was then living in the US state of Missouri, was employed by Monsanto and its subsidiary, The Climate Corporation, from 2008 to 2017 as an imaging scientist before quitting his job and buying a one-way ticket to China. He was caught at the airport with a copy of a Monsanto proprietary algorithm.

The Chinese national if convicted faces up to 15 years in prison for each espionage charge and up to ten years for each trade theft count, the release added.