Jerry Jindong Xu, a marketing professional, has been charged with stealing trade secrets regarding sodium cyanide. In addition, he apparently tried to sell this information to Chinese investors.
Mr. Xu worked for Chemours and its former Parent DuPont between 2004 and 2016. He planned to use the stolen information to convince Chinese investors to export sodium cyanide for the purpose of building a competing plant in North America.
Demand for this potentially deadly chemical has been on the rise. It is widely used to extract gold from ore. The indictment charges Mr. Xu with conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets. These charges carry a 10-year jail sentence and a $250,000 fine. Mr. Xu told one Chinese correspondent that he saw this project as along-term investment for himself.
Learn More From the Department of Justice Release
