FBI Arrests Chinese Charged With Stealing Trade Secrets Of Texas Firm

Houston, TX (AHN) - FBI agents have arrested a Chinese resident for allegedly stealing trade secrets of a Texas paint and coating firm with the intention of using it for his own business.

In a Department of Justice statement issued Thursday, U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said Qinggui Zeng, aka Jensen Zeng, 45, was arrested on Jan. 29 and ordered detained in federal custody pending his trial. A federal grand jury in Houston charged Zeng with two counts of theft of trade secrets and one count of computer fraud on Wednesday.

Based on Zeng's indictment papers, Zeng is accused of accessing without authorization his employer's protected computer system and obtaining the trade secret formula for the intumescent fire-proofing product between Nov. 1, 2005 and Jan. 29, 2008.

Zeng formed his own business in October 2007 for the purpose of marketing intumescent fire-proofing coating.

Zeng allegedly signed a confidentiality agreement with his employer to keep and maintain the latter's trade secrets.

Zeng is facing a sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine upon conviction of theft of trade secrets. He also faces a sentence of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine upon conviction of computer fraud and abuse.