Chenguang Gong, a former Southern California engineer with dual U.S. and Chinese citizenship, recently pled guilty to stealing trade secrets the U.S. government developed to detect nuclear missile launches, track ballistic and hypersonic missiles, and detect and evade heat-seeking missiles.
He posted a $1.75 million bond.
Gong transferred more than 3,600 files from the Los Angeles-area research and development company where he worked to personal storage devices, according to his plea agreement. Files included blueprints, proprietary and trade secret information.
The company hired Gong as an application-specific integrated circuit design manager responsible for the design, development and verification of its infrared sensors. Between March 30, 2023, two months after he was hired, and April 26, 2023, when he was fired, Gong transferred thousands of files. More than 1,800 files were transferred after he had accepted a job at one of the victim company’s main competitors. Some of the files were later found on storage devices seized from Gong’s temporary residence.
Between approximately 2014 and 2022, Gong submitted numerous applications to Talent Programs administered by the People’s Republic of China, law enforcement discovered. Gong was employed at several major U.S. technology companies at the time.
The intended economic loss of Gong’s criminal conduct is more than $3.5 million, according to the plea agreement.