FBI agents Tuesday arrested a Chinese national working for a US technology company for exporting information about sensitive military know-how to China, justice officials said. Liu Sixing, also know as Steve Liu, was arrested at his home in Deerfield, Illinois and charged with one count of exporting defense-related technical data without a license, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Liu, a Chinese national with permanent residency in the United States, worked for the New Jersey-based company from March 2009 until November 2010 as a senior engineer on a team developing precision navigation devices.
According to the charge, he boarded a flight from Newark last November to China, but on returning from Shanghai he was found to have a non-work issued computer containing hundreds of documents about the company's projects.
There were also images of a presentation Liu made to a technology conference which was organized by the Chinese government, the statement said.
Liu was never issued with a company laptop, and did not have the authority to access the company data outside of its New Jersey facility.
He also never told the company that he was traveling or that he was participating in the conference in China.
"According to the complaint, Liu took highly sensitive defense information to China, violating the rules of his company and the laws of this country," said US Attorney Paul Fishman said.
If convicted, Liu faces a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
