US authorities on Friday arrested Chinese national Haizhou Hu, who had been conducting research at the University of Virginia, on charges of "theft of trade secrets and computer intrusion" while he was attempting to board a flight back to China, the Department of Justice said in a Friday press release.
The DoJ said that Haizhou, who is conducting research on bio-mimics and fluid dynamics at the US university, “is charged with accessing a computer without authorization, or exceeding authorization to obtain information from a protected computer and theft of trade secrets”.
The arrest, said to have taken place on 25 August at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, was conducted after investigators performed a routine screening and discovered the Chinese national’s possession of a “bio-inspired research simulation software code that he was not authorized to possess”.
“A routine screening conducted by authorities revealed that Hu [Haizhou] was alleged to be in possession of bio-inspired research simulation software code that he was not authorized to possess, and which represented the result of years of research and resources in its development by members of the University of Virginia academic community,” the release said, citing court documents.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the case, with First Assistant United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar and Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh leading the investigation.
The DoJ pointed out that “a criminal complaint is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law”.