Chinese Company Owner Charged With Stealing EV Trade Secrets

Canadian national Klaus Pflugbeil, a resident of China, was arrested March 19 for allegedly conspiring to send an unnamed U.S. electric vehicle company's trade secrets to "undercover law enforcement officers," DOJ announced. Pflugbeil allegedly conspired with Chinese national Yilong Shao to send the trade secrets. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted.

Before starting their own China-based battery manufacturer, Pflugbeil and Shao worked for a Canadian producer of "automated, precision dispensing pumps and battery assembly lines." The unnamed U.S. company bought the Canadian firm in 2019, and Pflugbeil and Shao allegedly used the unnamed U.S. firm's proprietary information to start their own battery manufacturer.

Pflugbeil was arrested March 19 after sending "multiple" trade secrets to an undercover agent and traveling to New York meet with "who he believed to be Long Island-based businesspeople, but who in reality were undercover law enforcement agents," DOJ said. Shao remains at large.