They were indicted on nine counts for conspiracy to commit theft of trade secret information related to formulations for bisphenol-A-free (BPA-free) coating.

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — On Feb. 12, a grand jury in Greeneville, Tennessee, indicted a Chinese national and an American for conspiracy a conspiracy to steal trade secrets and to commit wire fraud, according to the Tennessee Department of Justice.

Xiaorong You, aka Shannon You, 56, of Lansing, Mich., and Liu Xiangchen, 61, of Shandong Province, China, were indicted on nine counts for conspiracy to commit theft of trade secret information related to formulations for bisphenol-A-free (BPA-free) coating, according to the DOJ. You was also indicted on seven counts of theft of trade secrets and one count of wire fraud.

The BPA-free information allegedly stolen by these individuals belonged to multiple owners and cost an estimated total of $119,600,000 to develop, according to officials.

Officials said from December 2012 through Aug. 31, 2017, You was employed as Principal Engineer for Global Research by a company in Atlanta, which had agreements with numerous companies to conduct research and development, testing, analysis, and review of various BPA-free technologies.

Due to her extensive education and experience with BPA and BPA-free coating technologies, she was one of a limited number of employees with access to TSI belonging to the various owners, according to officials.

From approximately September 2017 through June 2018, You was employed as a packaging application development manager for a company in Kingsport, Tenn., where she was one of a limited number of employees with access to TSI belonging to that company, according to officials.

The indictment alleges that You, Xiangchen and a third co-conspirator formulated a plan in which You would exploit her employment with the two American employers to steal the information and share it for the economic benefit of persons other than the TSI owners, including a Chinese company that would manufacture and profit from products developed using the stolen TSI, according to the DOJ.

“Our office is committed to working closely with our federal, state and local partners to identify and prosecute those who engage in illegal and deceptive practices to steal trade secret and protected information from companies who spend millions of dollars to develop it. Not only can theft of this information be potentially devastating to our American companies, it could also pose a threat to our overall national and economic security,” said J. Douglas Overbey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Assistant U.S. Attorney TJ Harker and National Security Division Trial Attorney Matthew Walczewski will prosecute the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The investigation was conducted by the FBI, according to the DOJ.