Former Ford employee pleads guilty to stealing $50M in trade secrets

[Bigredmariner]

I will credit Ford with taking a stand on these type of things. They keep a tighter reign on their products than any other manufacturer. I guess that is another reason that it is harder to find aftermarket stuff for Fords when the other manufacturers have tons of aftermarket stuff. Some good, some not so good though.

The Chinese companies are ruthless though in stealing ideas.

Source: Autoblog.com

According to the Department of Justice, 49 year-old Mike Yu has pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of trade secrets. Yu worked as a product engineer for Ford for 10 years before accepting a job with another company, but when he left the Blue Oval, he took more than his family photos with him when he walked out the door. The engineer copied over 4,000 Ford documents onto an external hard drive before letting the company know of his new employer. Those documents included proprietary information on everything from engine and transmission mounting designs to electrical systems and full body shells. Yu began working for Beijing Automotive Company in 2008.

Yu returned to the United States in November of that same year, and was arrested upon his arrival. The Federal Bureau of Investigation found a Beijing Automotive Company laptop among Yu's possessions at that time with 41 Ford design specification documents on its hard drive. Yu had apparently accessed those documents while working for the company.

Under his plea agreement, Yu faces up to six and a half years in prison and a $150,000 fine in addition to an agreed loss amount of between $50 million and $100 million. The former engineer will be deported after his prison time is up. Follow the jump to read the official government statement.

 

[OldCracker29]

I'm also impressed with Ford for this. How in the hell did this guy think he'd never get caught?

 

[Bigredmariner]

I figure he thought once he got to China he would be good. I guess he thought they would forget about him.

 

[OldCracker29]

I figure he thought once he got to China he would be good. I guess he thought they would forget about him.

He probably should have stayed over there a little longer before coming back to the states.

 

[PenguinLTZ]

Wow. Cold War stuff!

 

[Bigredmariner]

Wow. Cold War stuff!

For sure, big time corporate espionage.

 

[mblouir]

Whatever crew they use to track this stuff is doing work. They even busted a small-time company (ran by husband and wife) for doing custom FX4 decals and F-150 inlays (little stickers that go in the badges). Now us F150 guys have a hard time customizing those things. Completely different circumstances, yes, but it seems they keep things locked down tight.

 

[Bigredmariner]

Whatever crew they use to track this stuff is doing work. They even busted a small-time company (ran by husband and wife) for doing custom FX4 decals and F-150 inlays (little stickers that go in the badges). Now us F150 guys have a hard time customizing those things. Completely different circumstances, yes, but it seems they keep things locked down tight.

Yeah the Patriot deal came to mind when I read this. I realize they are only trying to protect their product and quality that they worked so hard to produce. But it is us, the modding gang that suffer to some degree due to lack of choices.

On one hand I completely agree with why they do it, on the other I wish they would loosen the grip a little.

 

[rrogers]

Give him the death penalty. Not really though i dont think he deserves to die for it. Im glad they caught him though.

 

[mblouir]

Whatever crew they use to track this stuff is doing work. They even busted a small-time company (ran by husband and wife) for doing custom FX4 decals and F-150 inlays (little stickers that go in the badges). Now us F150 guys have a hard time customizing those things. Completely different circumstances, yes, but it seems they keep things locked down tight.

Yeah the Patriot deal came to mind when I read this. I realize they are only trying to protect their product and quality that they worked so hard to produce. But it is us, the modding gang that suffer to some degree due to lack of choices.

On one hand I completely agree with why they do it, on the other I wish they would loosen the grip a little.

Agreed 100%.