A former employee named Weibao Wang of Apple has been accused for stealing the trade secrets and selling them to their competitors living in China, Russia and Iran.
The employee has been charged in 5 cases and below is the list of trade secrets that that Weibao Wang allegedly stole, or attempted to steal.
| Count | Date | Item Description |
|---|---|---|
| One | On or about August 11, 2016 | Entire Autonomy Source Code |
| Two | On or about April 18, 2018 | Tracking for an Autonomous System |
| Three | On or about April 15, 2018 | Behavior Planner for an Autonomous System |
| Four | On or about April 14, 2018 | Architecture Design for an Autonomous System |
| Five | In or about April 2018 | Descriptions of Hardware Systems, Including Architecture, Modules, Power, and Inputs |
| Six | On or about April 15, 2018 | Motion Planner for an Autonomous System |
A federal grand jury charged him with one count of violating under 18 U.S.C. § 1832(a)(1),(2),(3), & (4) for each and every category.
An indictment only contains allegations that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are deemed innocent unless their guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt in a legal proceeding.
For each count of stealing trade secrets or attempting to steal trade secrets, Wang faces a maximum statutory term of 10 years in prison and a punishment in the amount of two and a half times the gross gain or loss resulting from the plan, as well as a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
A term of supervised release, fines or other assessments, restitution, and forfeiture may also be ordered by the court as part of any sentence handed down after a conviction, if the circumstances warrant it.
However, any term that follows a conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute that governs the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. 3553. This would be the case regardless of the severity of the crime.
Sources:
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/former-apple-employee-charged-theft-trade-secrets
- https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3220793/us-charges-ex-apple-engineer-weibao-wang-trying-steal-technology-fleeing-china
- https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/apple-worker-indicted-theft-of-trade-secrets-weibo-wang-china/
That’s all about the Weibao Wang Apple story. If you know any other updates, please let use know in the comments and don’t forget to share it with others on social media groups!
