A Bay Area engineer was handed a 46-month prison sentence for his role in swiping vital trade secrets linked to missile launch detection, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Chenguang Gong, a 59-year-old dual U.S.-China citizen from San Jose, admitted to one count of theft of trade secrets in a plea on July 21, according to an official press release by the Department of Justice.
While serving as an application-specific integrated circuit design manager at a Los Angeles-area R&D firm in 2023, Gong moved over 3,600 files to his personal storage devices. Among these were blueprints to infrared sensors, some marked as confidential and export-controlled, said to be worth hundreds of millions. He acted between March 30 and April 26, 2023, transferring more than 1,800 files after securing employment with a competitor.
At his sentencing, United States District Judge John F. Walter also ordered Gong to pay $77,408 in restitution and imposed a $100,000 fine. The infringing files contained details on cutting-edge technology, such as sensors for space systems to track missile launches, and designs to enable U.S. military aircraft to jam heat-seeking missiles' tracking systems. Gong's transgressions reflected a pattern of using American tech to aid advancements in China's military capabilities.
Investigations revealed Gong's repeated bids for China's government-backed 'Talent Programs,' aimed at leveraging overseas expertise to bolster China's economy and military. Between 2014 and 2022, while employed at U.S. tech firms, Gong sought funding and proposed projects in China, which included military applications, like high-performance analog-to-digital converters for radar systems. In a statement obtained by the press release, prosecutors described Gong's systematic theft as "particularly egregious" given his long history of pilfering proprietary technology to benefit China's military.
Agencies like the FBI's Counterintelligence Task Force, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and Homeland Security Investigations collaborated on the case. The FBI's San Francisco Field Office and the Northern District of California's U.S. Attorney's Office also contributed significantly. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David C. Lachman and Nisha Chandran led the prosecution, with DOJ Trial Attorney Brendan P. Geary lending his expertise on counterintelligence and export control.
