By: Aaron Kim, ITMG Insider Threat Analyst
A federal appeals court has ruled that the former GSK scientist, who has admitted to stealing data regarding GSKs potential cancer drugs did not intend to cause the company a financial loss. A ruling that upheld the previously set sentence.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously found that Yu Xue and co-conspirator Tao Li admitted to conspiring to steal secrets for a Chinese company they founded, however that was not enough to support to lengthen their sentences after a lower court found that they never used the information to compete with GSK.
Xue has already served eight months, while Li has served 59 days. Prosecutors sought 10 years for Xue and seven years for Li.
According to the court, before Xue and Li were arrested in 2016, they worked at GSK’s Pennsylvania facility. They went on to form a pharma company called Renopharma. Xue, who was regarded as one of the top chemists at GSK is believed to be the one stealing about 200 GSK documents and sent them to Renopharma. It has also been reported that Renopharma received funding from the Chinese government.
Prosecutors argued that while GSK had not suffered any loss, sentencing should be extended on information based on a $1 billion intended loss, which they said reflected the stolen secrets’ value. “A defendant who intends or knows that his or her conduct will injure the owner of the trade secret does not necessarily intend to inflict pecuniary harm on that secret’s owner,” Chief Circuit Judge Michael Chagares wrote.
Xue and Li were among six people charged in connection with the scheme since 2016. Xue’s sister, Renopharma employee Tian Xue, GSK researcher Lucy Xi both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to probation. Xue’s brother, Gongda Xue, was found guilty in May of aiding in the scheme, and Xi’s husband, Renopharma co-founder Yan Mei, remains at large in China.
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