Posted December 17, 2013
In a case of agricultural espionage, federal prosecutors recently announced that the FBI arrested several individuals for stealing or attempting to steal seed technology, according to a USA Today article available here.
The seed technology is worth billions of dollars, according to an Iowa State University agronomy professor, because they contain genetic traits that make plants resistant to drought and pests.
Mo Hailong, is charged with stealing trade secrets after he toured DuPont Pioneer’s headquarters in Johnston, Iowa and Monsanto’s research facility in Ankeny. He attended a state dinner “in which Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad welcomed Xi Jinping, the then-future president of China.” According to court documents, Mo and others were spying for Kings Nower Seed, a Chinese seed company.
Mo, a Chinese citizen and permanent U.S. resident, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $5 million fine. He allegedly “stole inbred corn seeds from fields in Iowa and Illinois between September 2011 and October 2012. Officials say this is the first case of this kind.
Wang Hongwei was found crossing into Canada with 44 bags containing inbred corn seeds, “a notebook with GPS coordinates and a camera with hundreds of pictures of corn fields.”
The FBI also arrested two other men, Wengui Yan of Stuttgart, Arkansas and Weiquiang Zhang, of Manhattan, Kansas, in connection with stealing seed technology, according to an article by THV 11 available here.
Federal prosecutors have charged Yan and Zhang with conspiracy to steal trade secrets. According to the federal complaint, Yan worked for USDA as a rice geneticist at the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Arkansas. Zhang worked as an agricultural seed breeder for an unidentified company.
The complaint alleges that the men arranged for a Chinese delegation to visit the United States, including the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Arkansas and on August 7, agents with U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection found stolen seeds in the luggage of the group, according to an article by the Stuttgart Daily Leader available here.
If convicted, Yan and Zhang face a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
For more information on biotechnology, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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