A Chinese scientist was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for stealing more than $1 billion in trade secrets from his former employer, U.S. petroleum company Phillips 66, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced on Feb. 27.
Tan Hongjin, 36, a Chinese national and U.S. permanent resident, was arrested in December 2018 and pleaded guilty last November to charges relating to stealing trade secrets after admitting to downloading research materials from Phillips 66 without authorization. While the company wasn’t identified in the DOJ press release, it was named in court documents.
