Pfizer Says Employee Stole Files With Covid Vaccine Secrets (3)
Pfizer Inc. is alleging a “soon-to-be-former employee” misappropriated thousands of files, including documents with trade secrets related to its Covid-19 vaccine, in a California federal court lawsuit.
Chun Xiao (Sherry) Li allegedly uploaded more than 12,000 files including “scores” of documents with confidential information to a Google Drive account, Pfizer alleged in a complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The documents are said to pertain to a broad range of topics, including analysis of vaccine studies, operational goals, and development plans for new drugs.
UMC Settles with Micron in Trade Secret Theft Dispute
Taiwan-based contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp. (TSMC) announced Friday that it has reached a settlement with American dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) supplier Micron Technology Inc. to end their trade secret theft dispute of the past four years.
Micron accused the three UMC employees of assisting the Chinese state-owned firm Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., a business partner of the Taiwanese firm, of obtaining confidential business information from the American firm.
FCA Accuses General Motors Of Corporate Espionage
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), which is now part of the Stellantis Group, is accusing General Motors of corporate espionage. It’s doing so to block the Wayne County Circuit Court from reopening GM’s lawsuit against it. The original case dates back to 2019, following a long union-initiated strike action that was strong enough to delay the C8 Corvette.
FCA is also accusing GM of impersonating both its employees and lawyers to prove the existence of the foreign bank accounts used to bribe UAW officials.
Former Executive Director of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Husband Sentenced to Prison Terms for Bank Fraud
Jeanine Henderson Arnett and Diallo Arnett admitted that, between approximately Oct. 3, 2017 and Sept. 15, 2019, she misappropriated more than $228,000 from Delta Sigma Thetas’s bank accounts through, among other things, ACH money transfers and credit card transactions. This included unauthorized and fraudulent charges for personal items and expenses at, among other places, Amazon, Avis Rent a Car, Century Twenty-One, Coach, GEICO, and T-Mobile. In addition, the Arnetts used the Square Cash App to make nine transactions to transfer $14,162.50 to their account.
Office Manager Admits She Embezzled More Than $350,000 from Home Healthcare Agency and its Elderly Clients
According to court documents, Phimmasone held a trusted position that allowed her access to client accounts. Between April 2016 and August 2016, Phimmasone embezzled $25,958.60 by stealing checks that were issued by, or belonged to, her employer, and deposited them into her own bank account. Then, between December 2016 and April 2018, Phimmasone exploited her access to clients’ credit card information by billing them using PayPal, Venmo, Square and Apple Pay and diverting the money to her own accounts instead of using the funds to pay her employer for the in-home care services. To make the fraudulent charges appear legitimate, Phimmasone falsely told the victims that the healthcare provider changed its existing payment processing company to PayPal. After receiving the funds, Phimmasone spent the money or diverted the payments into her personal bank accounts.
Apple Sues “State-Sponsored” Spyware Firm NSO Group
Apple has become the latest tech giant to sue Israeli spyware developer NSO Group, in a bid to hold it accountable for targeted attacks which compromised users’ devices.
The Cupertino-based firm said it was taking legal action “to prevent further abuse and harm” to users of its products and would be seeking a permanent injunction banning NSO Group from using its products and services.