United States: Canadian living in China pleads guilty to stealing trade secrets related to Tesla

A German-Canadian businessman who lives in China and was arrested in the United States is facing up to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing industrial secrets from a major American manufacturer of electric cars, US courts announced Thursday, without identifying the group. .

According to Canadian and American press, it is Tesla led by billionaire Elon Musk.

Klaus Pflugbeil, 58, “a resident of Canada and the People's Republic of Germany, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pass manufacturing secrets of a major electric vehicle company in the United States,” according to the federal office of the New York jurisdiction.

By pleading guilty, Mr. Pflugbeil avoids a criminal trial but faces up to ten years in prison.

His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 9 in federal court in Central Islip, near New York.

Klaus Bflugbeel and Yilong Shao, fugitive accomplices, are confused by agents of the United States Federal Police (FBI) in late 2023.

The prosecution found a thread of their activities since 2019. Later they worked for a “Canadian manufacturer” of pumps for electric battery assembly lines for vehicles. According to the Canadian press, it is the Ontario company Hibar Systems, which was acquired by Tesla in 2019.

The two are accused of stealing industrial and trade secrets from Hibar Systems, including “original documents and drawings” on the technology of these pumps.

According to the court, Klaus Pflugbeil left the “Canadian manufacturer” in 2020 and Mr. Joined a company founded by Shao.

The company manufactures and markets the same pump technology that was “stolen from Mr. Pflugbeil's former employer.”

“He alleges that this prosecution quickly brings to justice those who misappropriate the intellectual property of American companies, and that it protects our economy and our national security,” said federal prosecutor Bron Pease.