BOSTON – A Chinese born naturalized U.S. citizen living in
Lexington, and a company he and his wife established, were charged in federal
court in Boston in connection with stealing proprietary information from his
former employer, Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), a semiconductor company headquartered
in Norwood. Yu is also charged with allegedly selling and illegally exporting
integrated circuits that incorporated ADI’s stolen trade secrets.
Haoyang Yu, a/k/a “Jack Yu,” a/k/a “Harry Yu,” a/k/a “Jack
Tricon,” 40, of Lexington, was arrested and charged along with his company,
Tricon MMIC LLC, in an indictment unsealed today. Yu was indicted on four
counts of theft of trade secrets; four counts of copying, uploading,
downloading, and attempted copying, uploading, and downloading of a trade secret;
four counts of possession and attempted possession of a trade secret; and three
counts of smuggling. Tricon MMIC LLC was also indicted on three counts of
smuggling. Yu will appear this afternoon in federal court in Boston.
“Theft of trade secrets from American companies is a
pervasive economic and national security threat, which makes Massachusetts, a
worldwide leader in technological research and innovation, a target,” said
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “Yu is charged with a massive theft of
proprietary trade secret information from his former employer for the purpose
of setting up his own company and marketing their products as his own. Today’s
charge should make it clear that combatting the theft of trade secrets from
American businesses is one of my office’s top priorities.”
“Today’s actions are the result of the seamless coordination
and collaborative counter proliferation efforts by the Office of Export
Enforcement, the Justice Department, Homeland Security Investigations, NCIS and
the FBI,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge William Higgins of the Office of
Export Enforcement. “The Boston Field Office, Office of Export Enforcement will
continue to work with all its Law Enforcement partners to stem illicit trade
that threatens U.S. national security and undermines U.S. foreign policy. We
will continue to vigorously pursue violators wherever they may be.”
“Violations of U.S. export laws like the ones charged in
this case are serious offenses that undermine national security through the
illegal export of sensitive U.S. technology and compromise the economic
viability of American companies,” said Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in
Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security
Investigations, Boston. “Today’s enforcement actions could not have occurred
without the coordinated efforts of a very dedicated team of law enforcement
partners that included members of HSI’s Counter-Proliferation Investigations
Center, the agency’s specialized unit dedicated to preventing the illegal
export of U.S. technology and protecting American businesses by combatting
transnational criminal networks and violators of our export laws.”
“As alleged, Mr. Yu stole trade secrets from his employer
for his own financial gain,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in
Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division. “We are
deeply concerned about American innovation ending up in the wrong hands, and
the FBI is committed to investigating rogue actors and foreign nations who
steal our trade secrets, technology, and proprietary information for military
or economic gain. While we all welcome
fair competition, we cannot and will not tolerate stealing and cheating. It’s
illegal, unethical, and unfair, and this type of conduct hurts American
businesses, jobs, and consumers, and in many instances, jeopardizes our
national security.”
NCIS Northeast Field Office Special Agent in Charge Leo S.
Lamont stated: “NCIS works closely with our partners in the FBI, HSI, and
Department of Commerce to aggressively combat the theft of trade secrets and
the illegal export of sensitive defense technologies. These crimes not only
weaken our national security but also jeopardize the safety of our brave men
and women in uniform.”
According to the charging document, Yu was born in Harbin,
China, and first came to the United States in 2002 through the student visa
program. He became a lawful permanent resident in June 2009, and a naturalized
U.S. citizen in March 2017. In July 2014, Yu started working at ADI as a
principal design engineer.
As alleged in the indictment, Yu worked for ADI designing
and developing parts of monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), which
are used in radio, cellular, and satellite communications as well as defense
and aerospace applications. As a result of his work, Yu had access to data and
information relating to the present and future product designs, schematics,
manufacturing files and testing procedures. It is alleged that, while working
for ADI, Yu downloaded hundreds of highly confidential schematic design files
and modeling files that belonged to ADI, and copied portions of those files
into spreadsheets which he uploaded to his personal Google drive account. The
files Yu allegedly stole from ADI were worth millions of dollars.
In March 2017, approximately five months before he resigned
from ADI, Yu and his wife established Tricon MMIC LLC, which according to its
website, “specializes in wide band MMIC amplifiers,” and serves customers in
“defense and aerospace, test and instrumentation, [and] satellite
communications.”
On July 31, 2017, Yu resigned from ADI and signed an
agreement affirming that he had surrendered all proprietary information or
data. Nevertheless, in December 2018, Yu allegedly had propriety ADI files in
his possession. Furthermore, since creating Tricon in March 2017, Yu marketed
and sold approximately 20 ADI designs as his own, and even used the same
semiconductor fabrication plant as ADI. Yu used the Tricon website to target
ADI customers, claiming that Tricon could better serve customers because ADI
“has hit many customers by sudden announcements of obsolete parts.” For each
purported obsolete part, Tricon listed a replacement part on its website. These
replacement parts contained specifications identical to or substantially
similar to ADI.
It is alleged that since leaving ADI, from August 2017 to
June 2019, Yu has been working at a cleared defense contractor while
simultaneously operating Tricon and selling parts that are identical to, or
substantially similar, to ADI products and which incorporate ADI’s stolen trade
secrets. Yu has also allegedly used Tricon to illegally export several parts to
Spain by concealing both his name and the export control classification number
of the parts being exported on the shipping documents.
ADI, the named victim of the Yu’s theft of trade secrets,
has been cooperating with the government throughout this investigation.
The charge of stealing, copying, downloading, and possessing
a trade secret provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison,
three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of
smuggling goods from the United States provides for a sentence of no greater
than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of
$250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon
the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Lelling; Acting DOC – Office of Export
Enforcement SAC Higgins; HSI Boston SAC Fitzhugh; FBI Boston SAC Bonavolonta;
and NCIS SAC Lamont made the announcement today. The following agencies also
assisted in this investigation: Customs and Border Protection; Coast Guard
Investigative Service; Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Massachusetts
State Police; Lexington Police Department; and Hingham Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney B. Stephanie Siegmann, Chief of Lelling’s National
Security Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney George Varghese, of Lelling’s
National Security Unit, are prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are
allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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