MIL Security Engine-1

Source: US FBI

Today, in federal court in Central Islip, Klaus Pflugbeil was sentenced by Judge Joan M. Azrack to 24 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to send trade secrets that belong to a leading U.S.-based electric vehicle company (Victim Company-1).  Pflugbeil, a resident of the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC” or “China”) and a Canadian and German national, and his co-defendant, Yilong Shao, who remains at large, are owners of a PRC-based business (Business-1) that sold technology used to make batteries, including batteries used in electric vehicles.  Pflugbeil and Shao, former employees of a company that was purchased by Victim Company-1, took trade secrets from their employer, and later used the trade secrets to build a business that they marketed as a replacement for Victim Company-1’s products.  Pflugbeil pleaded guilty in June 2024.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the charges.

“The defendant built a business in China to sell sensitive technology that belongs to a U.S. company.  His actions were bold—he even advertised that he was selling the victim’s products—because he thought, incorrectly, that he was outside the reach of U.S. prosecutors,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to would-be offenders: my Office will do everything it can to protect American innovation and national security no matter where you try to hide.”

Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and the Japanese authorities for their assistance on this case.

“In stealing trade secrets from an American electric vehicle manufacturer to use in his own China-based company, Pflugbeil’s actions stood to benefit the PRC in a critical industry with national security implications,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “The Justice Department will mobilize every available resource to prevent our adversaries from advancing their global ambitions at the expense of U.S. national security.”

“Klaus Pflugbeil attempted to benefit a foreign economy through an unauthorized monopoly fueled by technology stolen from the United States. His actions blatantly violated the trust of his employer and the integrity of our country’s innovative technology. May today’s sentencing reiterate the FBI’s commitment to disrupting any conspiracy which threatens our national security and the balance of the global economic market,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.

Victim Company-1 is a U.S.-based leading manufacturer of battery-powered electric vehicles and battery energy systems.  In 2019, Victim Company-1 acquired a Canada-based manufacturer of automated, precision dispensing pumps and battery assembly lines (the “Canadian Manufacturer”).  Prior to its purchase by Victim Company-1, the Canadian Manufacturer sold battery assembly lines to customers who manufactured alkaline and lithium‑ion batteries for consumer use.  The battery assembly lines contained or utilized a proprietary technology now owned by Victim Company-1: continuous motion battery assembly (the “Battery Assembly Trade Secret”).  The proprietary technology provided a substantial competitive advantage to Victim Company-1 in the lithium-ion battery manufacturing process.

Both Pflugbeil and his co-defendant Shao are former employees of the Canadian Manufacturer, and Shao also worked for Victim Company-1.  As detailed in court documents, by no later than 2019, Pflugbeil and Shao planned to use Victim Company-1’s trade secrets for their own business activities.  Pflugbeil told Shao that he had “a lot of original documents” related to the technology and sought out more “original drawings” of the trade secrets.  Shao confirmed, among other things, that, “we have all of original assembly drawings by PDF.”

The conspirators took measures to obfuscate that they had stolen trade secrets. For example, Pflugbeil wrote to Shao about a document he created based on one that Shao had stolen from Victim Company-1, “[its] in a different format, so it looks very original and not like a copy.”

In or about July 2020, Pflugbeil joined Business-1, a company previously established by Shao, which has since expanded to locations in China, Canada, Germany and Brazil.  Business‑1 makes the same precision dispensing pumps and battery assembly lines that the Canadian Manufacturer developed.  The battery assembly technology is related to the development of electric vehicles that can compete with U.S.-made vehicles.  The potential for Chinese automakers to swamp the U.S. and global market with vehicles like those that can be built using this stolen technology presents a potential national security risk.

Business-1 was marketed by Pflugbeil as an alternative source for the sale of products that relied upon Victim Company-1’s trade secrets, publishing online advertisements on Google, YouTube and LinkedIn.  Pflugbeil repeatedly sent LinkedIn messages that named Victim Company-1 and said Business-1 was not infringing on any intellectual property:

Hello [name], I hope to get some of your busy time.  As I like to introduce our company to you.  We already have supplied companies such [a]s [list of U.S. Fortune 500 Companies by name] . . . We engineer and manufacture all of our products in-house, and we warrant that none of our products infringe any patents, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights of any third party.

(Emphasis added.)  The above reflects a blatant lie, told over and over—that Business-1’s products did not infringe on intellectual property rights of a third party.  Pflugbeil also advertised products based on stolen trade secrets on Google.  These ads were shown tens of thousands of times per week.

On or about September 11, 2023, undercover agents attended a trade show for the packaging and processing industries (the “Trade Show”) in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The undercover agents posed as businesspeople who were interested in purchasing a battery assembly line from Business-1 to manufacture batteries at a facility in Long Island, New York.  The undercover agents were introduced to Shao at the trade show and later to Pflugbeil via email.

Subsequently, on or about November 17, 2023, Pflugbeil sent, via email, a detailed 66-page technical documentation proposal (the “Proposal”) to an undercover agent (UC-1).  The Proposal noted, “this technical documentation package contains [Business-1] proprietary information which must be kept confidential.”  In reality, the Proposal contained Battery Assembly Trade Secret information belonging to Victim Company-1:  at least half a dozen drawings Pflugbeil used in the Proposal and sent to UC-1 were, in fact, Victim Company-1’s information related to the Battery Assembly Trade Secret.  The business proposal quoted the battery assembly line at costing over $15 million to purchase.

The investigation and prosecution were coordinated through the Justice and Commerce Departments’ Disruptive Technology Strike Force.  The Disruptive Technology Strike Force is an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section and the Long Island Criminal Division.  Assistant United States  Attorneys Ellen H. Sise and Samantha Alessi are in charge of the prosecution, along with Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Rebecca Roth.

The Defendant

KLAUS PFLUGBEIL
AGE: 59
NINGBO, CHINA

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 24-CR-238

Source: US FBI

When Watson Needed to Prove His False Claims To Investors, He Directed Conspirators to Forge Documents and Impersonate Executives from Other Companies

Source: US FBI

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Dejan Karlovic, 29, of Amherst, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with theft of government funds, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Rudroff, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, between October 16, 2023, and July 2, 2024, Karlovic was employed by Jericho Road as a Senior Grants Accountant. In this position, he had access to three commercial credit cards issued through M&T Bank. Among the expenses charged to these credit cards were charges purportedly related to UHAUL, with many of the most significant UHAUL related charges supported by invoices from an entity named D and D. Between March 1 and June 26, 2024, there were more than $574,000 in D and D related transactions conducted on the credit cards.

In March 2024, Jericho Road switched its credit card process to an online credit card management system called Ramp. Ramp accounts were issued to a limited number of personnel, which did not include Karlovic. One employee who was to receive a Ramp account with administrative access, did not establish his user profile in a timely manner. However, an unknown individual established the employee’s profile on Ramp. At approximately the same time the profile was established, an invitation for administrative access to Ramp was sent to Karlovic and a credit card through Ramp was issued to Karlovic. Karlovic was questioned about this, and he admitted that he received the invitation. Karlovic’s access to the Ramp credit card was revoked. However, when the Ramp program was rolled out to Jericho Road, Karlovic received access to two credit cards. He was to manage the program expenses related to these cards, and was able to make legitimate program purchases using both these credit cards. Between April 10 and June 17, 2024, there were more than $10,000 in D and D related transactions that were conducted on one of the two credit cards Karlovic had access to through Ramp.

Subsequent investigation determined that some of the funds allegedly stolen by Karlovic in the name of D and D, were transferred to his personal bank account at Northwest Bank. The timing of the transactions coincided with transactions on the M&T credit cards. Jericho Road became aware of the suspicious nature of the transactions involving D and D, conducted an internal investigation, and concluded that the charges were not for legitimate business purposes. Since Karlovic’s access was revoked, no new purchases from D and D have cleared on Ramp.

The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.  

# # # #

Source: US FBI

BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Deshema Clark, 46, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of making a materially false statement,  was sentenced to serve 30 days in prison and two years’ supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.  

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maeve E. Huggins and Joseph M. Tripi, who handled the case, stated that on October 9, 2019, during the course of a federal criminal investigation, the FBI executed a search warrant at Clark’s Buffalo residence. During the search, Clark spoke with an FBI Special Agent, then went to Buffalo Police Department Headquarters to provide a voluntary statement to law enforcement. Clark knowingly made several false statements regarding the whereabouts of DeAndre Wilson during the evening of September 15, 2019, through the morning of September 16, 2019. Clark falsely stated that she and DeAndre Wilson returned to her residence after attending a concert the evening of September 15, 2019, ate dinner and went to sleep. Clark further falsely stated that a few hours later, she woke up and DeAndre Wilson was still asleep. Clark told investigators that she did not remember DeAndre Wilson leaving her residence on the evening of September 15, 2019, through the morning of September 16, 2019. However, Clark knew that DeAndre Wilson did not remain at her residence, eat dinner, and go to bed.

DeAndre Wilson was convicted by a federal jury and sentenced to serve three consecutive life sentences plus 30 years for the murders of Miguel Anthony Valentin-Colon, Nicole Marie Merced-Plaud, and Dhamyl Roman-Audiffred on or about September 15-16, 2019.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia; the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff John Garcia; the Erie County Central Police Services Forensic Laboratory.

# # # #