In conjunction with the publication
of STICKY FINGERS:
Managing the Global Risk of
Economic Espionage, this website will endeavor to publish timely updates of
current Economic Espionage cases covered in the book.
Update on the Bristol-Meyers
Squibb/Taxol Case:
Even
though Kai-Lo ("James") Hsu initially was charged with attempted
theft of trade secrets, conspiracy to steal trade secrets, wire fraud,
conspiracy and interstate and foreign travel to commit commercial bribery
-- crimes worthy of a prison sentence, to
be sure, if convicted -- the government allowed him to plead guilty to a
single count of conspiring to commit trade secret theft, for which
he was sentenced to two years probation and a $10,000 fine. The government
dropped all other charges.
Chester
S. Ho was charged only with aiding and abetting.
But, on March 31, 1999, when Hsu changed his plea to guilty, the
government dropped all charges against Ho and he went free.
Taiwan refused to extradite Jessica Chou at the request of the U.S.
government at the time the case was active. Subsequently, however,
the U.S. government dropped all charges against Chou, claiming "it was no longer in the
interest of justice to pursue her," according to Assistant U.S.
Attorney Louis Lappen, who prosecuted the case.
Curiously, though, YFP -- the Yen (or Yuen) Foong Paper Company in Taiwan
-- in a related civil case, paid the U.S. a $300,000 settlement for money
laundering in connection with the economic espionage
activities that were charged in the underlying criminal indictment, even
though the paper company was never charged in the criminal complaint.
Whether there is a cause and effect connection between the $300,000 civil
payment made by YFP and the dismissal of criminal charges against its
employee, Jessica Chou, is certainly open to speculation.
(Updated
January 2002)
