DETROIT – A federal grand jury in Detroit has charged two former executives of the Metaldyne Corp. and one of the company’s former agents in China with industrial espionage. The trio plotted to steal secret processes for making engine parts from powdered metal, according to the indictment handed down by the grand jury.
Federal prosecutors said the conspiracy also targeted trade secrets from GKN Sinter Metals of Auburn Hills, Mich. Metaldyne and GKN are the only two companies in the car business to have succeeded in developing the processes needed to turn powdered metal into large, heavy-duty automotive parts such as connecting rods, federal authorities said.
Stephen J. Murphy, the U.S. attorney in Detroit, said, ?Regardless of the highly competitive rough and tumble of today?s global automotive industry, stealing is still stealing. The federal law protecting trade secrets prohibits such conduct, and whenever it occurs, it warrants an aggressive law enforcement response.?
Anne Lockwood, 53, former vice president of sales at Metaldyne, and her husband, Michael Haehnel, a former a senior engineer at Metaldyne, were charged in the 64-page indictment. Also charged in the indictment was Fuping Liu, who worked in Metaldyne?s office in Shanghai until April 2004.
In 2004, Lockwood left Metaldyne and began working with Liu to develop powdered metal manufacturers in China that could displace Metaldyne as the supplier of various powdered-metal parts, according to the indictment. Liu also worked for GKN Sinter in Shanghai after leaving Metaldyne and used his position to steal information about the company?s strategy for Lockwood and another Chinese manufacturer, Liaoning Shuguanang Automotive Corp., according to the indictment.
Meanwhile, Haehnel used his position inside Metaldyne to gain access to hundreds of confidential files that were then forwarded by Lockwood and Liu to the Chinese manufacturer, Chongqing Huafu Industry.
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