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A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola confirmed that You Xiaorong previously worked for the company.
A former engineer at Coca-Cola was charged Thursday in Tennessee with stealing trade secrets of an estimated $ 120 million worth of donations to a Chinese company, the Justice Department said.
The US national You Xiaorong allegedly stole the technology needed to manufacture BPA-free packaging from several companies, including a former "Atlanta-based" employer not identified in the indictment.
A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola, headquartered in Atlanta, declined to comment on the case, but confirmed that you had previously worked for the company.
"As this is a pending legal case, it would not be appropriate for us to start more," she said.
According to the indictment, you conspired with Chinese national Liu Xiangchen and an unidentified relative of Liu to steal formulations for bisphenol-A-free food packaging coatings, a product widely used, which scientists have discovered in recent years is harmful to human health. .
Alternatives to BPA are rare and very valuable in the food packaging industry.
According to the indictment, Liu wanted to use this technology for his company, which was considering developing production lines for packaging without BPA.
In exchange, he offered you a job and also promised to help him win one of China's most prestigious research and innovation awards, the "Thousand Talent" Award.
This prestigious award pays tribute to Chinese students who are returning from school and working abroad, bringing them technology that will advance the Chinese economy.
US intelligence officials said the program also aimed to encourage overseas Chinese to steal technology to import into China.
You "are accused of robbery and transfer of flagrant and premeditated trade secrets worth over $ 100 million in order to create a Chinese company capable of competing with US corporations to whom the secrets stolen, "said J. Douglas Overbey. , United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
"Unfortunately, China continues to use its national programs, like the" Thousand Talents ", to solicit and reward the theft of trade secrets and intellectual property in our country."
(This story has not been changed by NDTV staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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