Chinese spy convicted of stealing Motorola trade secrets

A federal judge convicted a Chinese-born U.S. citizen on Wednesday of trying to leave the country with thousands of pages of sensitive documents belonging to Motorola Solutions.

The judge found that Hanjuan Jin "criminally betrayed Motorola by stealing its trade secrets,” but found her not guilty on three charges of spying for the Chinese military. 

She faces up to 10 years in prison on each of three counts of stealing trade secrets.

Jin began working as a software engineer for Motorola, a telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Ill., in 1998. In 2006, she began secretly working for Chinese telecom company Sun Kaisens, according to prosecutors. 

As part of her work for Sun Kaisens, she returned to China in 2006 and 2007 to work on projects for the Chinese military, telling Motorola she was on sick leave.

In February 2007, she stole thousands of pages of classified documents and computer drives from Motorola. 

Jin bought a one-way ticket back to China, but U.S. Customs officials stopped her at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. They seized her documents, many of which were marked as confidential Motorola information.

She was also carrying classified Chinese military documents and $30,000 in hundred-dollar bills, split into six envelopes. 

“The verdict establishes that Jin stole valuable trade secrets from an American company, and we will do everything we can to guard our economic and national security from the theft of American trade secrets," Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said. "This case is a successful example of how we can work with victim corporations to prosecute these cases while protecting the trade secrets involved.” 

---