United States law enforcement officers have arrested former Apple employee, Xiaolang Zhang, for attempting to sell trade secrets to a competitor. According to a report from Reuters, the ordeal began back in April when Zhang traveled with his family to China following the birth of a child. When Zhang returned from China, he suddenly told his supervisor that he planned to resign, move back to China and take a position with Xiaopeng Motors, a tech company that is looking to delve into the world of self driving vehicles.
From there, Zhang’s boss informed Apple security. Apple’s security found that Zhang had allegedly run extensive searches of secret databases and come on to Apple’s campus when he was supposed to be on paternity leave. While on campus, the complaint alleges that Zhang took circuit boards and stole a computer server from a self-driving car hardware lab Most notably, the complaint alleges that Zhang downloaded a 25-page secret blueprint of a circuit board for a self-driving car to his personal computer. As a result, authorities obtained a search warrant for his home in late June and found that he obtained a last minute plane ticket for China in early July. All of this lead to Zhang’s arrest earlier this week. It is widely believe that Zhang was allegedly obtaining all of this information to give to Xiaopeng Motors in his new position.
In a statement made earlier this week, an Apple spokesperson stated, “Apple takes confidentiality and the protection of our intellectual property very seriously. We’re working with authorities on this matter and will do everything possible to make sure this individual and any other individuals involved are held accountable for their actions.”
Zhang’s lawyer, Tamara Crepet, has yet comment on the story as of yet. No official charges have been listed as of yet, but things are not looking up for Zhang at the current moment.
