Chinese national charged for allegedly stealing trade secrets, DOJ says

A 34-year-old Chinese researcher at the University of Virginia has been charged with stealing trade secrets and engaging in unauthorized access of information, according to the Department of Justice.

Haizhou Hu, the man facing charges, sought to fly out of the U.S. to China on Aug. 25 but was found to have information which he was not permitted to possess and that was the product of significant research, the DOJ said.

"A routine screening conducted by authorities revealed that Hu was alleged to be in possession of bio-inspired research simulation software code that he was not authorized to possess, and which represented the result of years of research and resources in its development by members of the University of Virginia academic community," the Justice Department said.

Hu has been "charged with accessing a computer without authorization, or exceeding authorization to obtain information from a protected computer and theft of trade secrets," according to the Department.

The threat of Chinese nationals seeking to obtain information to benefit China represents an recurring problem.

The DOJ said that Guan Lei, who allegedly tossed a damaged hard drive into a trash dumpster, has been charged.

"A Chinese national and researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles has been arrested on federal charges of destroying evidence to obstruct an FBI investigation after he was observed throwing a damaged hard drive into a dumpster outside his apartment," according to the DOJ.

"According to the complaint, Guan is being investigated for possibly transferring sensitive U.S. software or technical data to China’s National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) and falsely denying his association with the Chinese military – the People’s Liberation Army – in connection with his 2018 visa application and in interviews with federal law enforcement," the DOJ said. "Guan later admitted that he had participated in military training and wore military uniforms while at NUDT," according to the Department.