59-year-old resident of New York, Xiaocin Zheng, who used to work in GE Power and specialized in the technology of sealing turbines, was found guilty in conspiracy to commit economic espionage.
Zhen worked in GE from 2008 to 2018. According to court documents , he entered into the nephew of his wife and other persons in China to steal GE confidential information related to the ground and aviation turbine technologies of the company. These technologies were included in the list of basic priorities of research and production for 2030 as part of a five -year Peking Development Plan.
In 2016, Zheng and accomplices in China founded the company Nanjing Tianyi Avi Tech (NTAT), which develops details for turbines. Meanwhile, Zheng also owned a 45% share in another company Liaoning Tianyi Aviation Technology (LTAT), which was created and belongs to his wife’s nephew, a citizen of China.
Since 2017, Zheng has saved confidential encrypted files on his working computer. Then in 2018, Zheng moved about 40 encrypted files to a temporary folder on his desktop. According to GE Power, the files were associated with the sealing and optimization of turbine technology – the information “which GE considers secret.”
Using Steganography, Zheng placed files in the binary code of a conventional photo. Then Zheng sent a photo from his work mail to his personal box in Hotmail.
by e -mail.
Zheng told the FBI that his Chinese companies “have not yet been brought profit, but have already received grants and financing from Beijing.” The accused was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of $ 7500. After the end of the prison term, Zheng will be released for supervision within one year.