Blacklisted China-based telecoms company charged with conspiring to steal Motorola technology

The blacklisted China-based telecommunications company Hytera now faces federal charges after allegedly working with former Motorola employees to steal technology, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday.

The newly-unsealed indictment states that from 2007 and 2020 Hytera recruited and hired people who worked with Chicago-based Motorola's mobile radios and digital mobile radios, also known as "walkie-talkies."

The indictment, originally filed under seal in May 2021, charges Hytera with 21 criminal counts, including conspiracy to steal trade secrets and possession or attempted possession of secrets. The company faces a criminal fine of up to three times the value of the trade secrets if found guilty.

Individual Motorola Solutions employees were also charged, but their names are redacted because they have yet to appear in court. Those charged signed confidentiality agreements when hired by Motorola. 

Hytera, which brands itself as "a global leader in two-way radio communications," denied the accusations in an email to Reuters.

Motorola executive Mark Hacker said the charges "underscore the calculated and deliberate character" of Hytera's product. 

"We will continue our civil litigation against Hytera in jurisdictions around the world to prevent Hytera's serial infringement and to collect the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages it owes to Motorola Solutions," Hacker said, according to Reuters.

Hytera was listed by the Federal Communications Commission as posing an "unacceptable" national security risk to the U.S. in March 2021.