Chenguang Gong, a former engineer at a Southern California-based company, has pleaded guilty to stealing highly sensitive trade secret technologies related to national security, according to an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The 59-year-old dual citizen of the United States and China reportedly stole technologies designed to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic threats. He entered his guilty plea at a Los Angeles federal court on July 21.
Who Is Chenguang Gong?
Gong is accused of transferring over 3,600 files from his former employer to personal storage devices during his brief tenure at the research and development firm in the Los Angeles area last year. He has pleaded guilty to one count of theft of trade secrets and remains free on a $1.75 million bond.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s statement revealed that the files Gong transferred included blueprints for advanced infrared sensors used in space-based missile warning systems and sensors designed to enable U.S. military aircraft to detect and evade heat-seeking missiles. Some of these sensitive files were later recovered from storage devices at Gong’s temporary residence in Thousand Oaks.
Authorities noted that these documents were marked as “PROPRIETARY,” “EXPORT CONTROLLED,” and “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY.” Gong joined the company as a circuit design manager in January 2023, but was terminated by April 26, 2023.
Circumstances of the Theft
Court filings indicate that Gong used his work laptop to transfer thousands of files to three personal storage devices while simultaneously accepting a job offer from one of the company’s key competitors.
Gong is also associated with multiple applications submitted to Talent Programs. U.S. officials contend that these programs were created to recruit overseas experts to bring technology to China. The People’s Republic of China is believed to have established such programs to identify individuals with advanced skills and knowledge in science and technology.
