(FiveNation.com)- FBI agents recently told the story of how a man stole the private information and company secrets of a Charlotte, North Carolina-based business on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. Speaking to Channel 9, agents revealed how Xiwen Huang was the man behind a scheme that was uncovered in 2015.
Jim Granozio, an FBI special agent, said that Xiwen posted a threat not just to the company in Charlotte that he targeted but to other businesses across the United States. Photographs published from the network show the man’s large, luxury home, where he was apprehended by FBI agents seven years ago this year.
Granozio described how, upon arrest, Xiwen admitted that he had stolen intellectual property and received money from the Chinese Communist Party. He also admitted to opening a company in China where he would use the company information he stole from the Charlotte-based business, with the intention of competing directly with the company from overseas.
According to his testimony, Xiwen received funding from the Chinese government in the way of special initiatives. The Chinese Communist Party offers cash incentives for individuals who steal company secrets from American businesses – a practice that has led to copyright infringement and the use of trade secrets in Chinese businesses, which often make products that are eventually sold in Western markets.
The FBI agent revealed that even though the information Xiwen obtained was never released publicly, the Charlotte-based company he targeted eventually closed.
“The company is no longer in existence,” he said. “I would say mainly because of what happened here.”
Can you believe that? It sounds like President Joe Biden should be taking the threat of China much, much more seriously…
