Ex GM employees charged with stealing info on hybrid vehicle technology

2011 Chevrolet Volt

A Chinese couple in Michigan has been charged by federal authorities in Detroit with stealing hybrid vehicle technology from GM and attempting to put it into use for a Chinese car company. Yu Chin and his wife Sanshan Du have been officially charged with unauthorized possession of trade secrets and wire fraud, as well as other crimes.

Ms. Du, who was let go from GM back in 2005, was offered a severance package. A few days later, she copied thousands of GM documents to a computer hard drive used for a business owned by the couple, which would later enter into a venture with Chery Automobile, a Chinese automaker, whereby MTI would provide hybrid technology.

GM estimates the value of the stolen information to be in the neighborhood of about $40 million.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: CNNMoney