A chemical engineer was sentenced on Monday to 14 years in prison in the United States for stealing trade secrets about materials used in soft drink and other beverage cans on behalf of the Chinese government and a Chinese company.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Xiaorong “Shannon” Yu, 59, of Lansing, Michigan, appeared in federal court in Greenville, Tennessee after a jury found her guilty in April on charges including possession of stolen trade secrets and economic espionage.
Prosecutors allege that you gained access to BPA-free can interiors while working at Coca-Cola in Atlanta and the Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, Tennessee.
According to justices of the peace, the trade secret cost major chemical and paint companies almost $120 million (about 114 million euros).
Prosecutors also allege that you stole trade secrets to set up a BPA-free coatings company in China, and that its Chinese partner, Weihai Jinhong Group, received millions of dollars in grants from the Chinese government to support the new business.
Evidence was also provided that you intended to benefit the Chinese government, Shandong Province of China, Weihai City of China, and the Chinese Communist Party.
You worked at Coca-Cola as a lead global investigation engineer from December 2012 to August 2017 and were packaging application development manager at Eastman Chemical from September 2017 to June 2018, the lawyers added.
