Chenguang Gong, 57, of San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, United States has been charged with theft of trade secrets. He is an engineer.
Born in China, Gong became a U.S. citizen in 2011. He has a temporary residence of Thousand Oaks, Ventura County, California.
Between 2014 and 2022, Gong submitted numerous applications to talent programs administered by the Chinese government while he was employed at several major technology companies in the U.S. The Asian country established the programs to identify citizens outside the country who have expert skills, abilities and knowledge that would be beneficial to its economic development.
On April 5, 2023, Gong accepted a job as an engineer at a research and development company in California. On March 30, 2023, he allegedly started stealing files from the company, which contained proprietary and trade secret information.
While employed there, Gong allegedly transferred more than 3,600 files from his work laptop to three personal storage devices. He allegedly continued to do so until he was terminated on April 26, 2023.
The files include blueprints for sensors designed to enable U.S. military aircraft to detect incoming heat-seeking missiles and take countermeasures. There were also blueprints for sophisticated infrared sensors designed for use in space-based systems to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
On May 8, 2023, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents executed a search warrant at Gong’s temporary residence in Thousand Oaks and found storage devices containing illegally copied files. On February 6, 2024, he was arrested.
CONAN Daily 