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FBI says former Corning man sold secrets to Taiwan
AP
, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
Sunday, Oct 23, 2005, Page 11
A former employee of a Corning Inc glassmaking plant has been charged with stealing trade secrets and selling them to a Taiwanese company.
The FBI arrested Jonathan Sanders, 37, last Wednesday and charged him with selling information about the process Corning uses to make liquid crystal display, or LCD, glass for flat-panel TVs, computers, cellphones and digital personal assistants.
"We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in this, which is why it is so important to us," Cor-ning spokesman Jim Terry told the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Sanders pleaded not guilty on Thursday before a federal magistrate.
On Thursday, the Taiwanese company, Picvue Electronics Ltd (ºÑ±y¹q¤l), and Corning announced a settlement of a Corning lawsuit stemming from the alleged sales. Picvue agreed not to use the information and to compensate Corning for any past wrongdoing, Terry said.
The FBI, in a criminal complaint, said Sanders confirmed on Tuesday that he sold Picvue blueprints about "fusion draw," a glassmaking process Corning had developed.
The bureau said Sanders told an agent he found the blueprints in 1999 in Corning's warehouse at its Harrodsburg plant, in a hopper containing confidential material to be destroyed.
Prior September 2000, court records allege, Yeong C. Lin -- a Picvue consultant -- told Picvue that Sanders was offering drawings he had obtained from Corning. Picvue authorized a wire transfer of US$30,000 but it was unclear whether Sanders received it.
Sanders with Picvue President Jacob Lin (ªL¤å±l) and Yeong C. Lin several times over the next nine months, according to court records.
The FBI said the four-year investigation is continuing.
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