Hospital Researcher [Yu Zhou] Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Steal Trade Secrets and Sell to China

[Hamartia Antidote]

Hospital Researcher Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Steal Trade Secrets and Sell to China

An Ohio man was sentenced yesterday to 33 months in prison for conspiring to steal exosome-related trade secrets concerning the research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions.

www.justice.gov

An Ohio man was sentenced yesterday to 33 months in prison for conspiring to steal exosome-related trade secrets concerning the research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions.

Yu Zhou, 51, of Dublin, Ohio, pleaded guilty in December 2020 to stealing scientific trade secrets related to exosomes and exosome isolation from Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Research Institute for his own personal financial gain. Zhou also conspired to commit wire fraud.

“Yu Zhou sought to exploit U.S. taxpayer dollars intended to fund critical, life-saving research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital through the whole-sale theft of their trade secrets,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Zhou’s greed was encouraged and enabled by a series of Chinese Government programs which incentivize thievery in an attempt to supplement China’s own research and development goals on the back of American ingenuity and investment. This successful prosecution should serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to profit from pilfering hard-earned U.S. trade secrets.”

“Yu Zhou willingly took part in the Chinese Government’s long-term efforts to steal American intellectual property,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel for the Southern District of Ohio. “Zhou and his wife executed a scheme over the course of several years to set up businesses in China, steal American research, and profit from doing so. The couple deserves the time it received in federal prison.”

According to court documents, Zhou and his co-conspirator and wife, Li Chen, 48, worked in separate medical research labs at the Research Institute for 10 years each (Zhou from 2007 until 2017 and Chen from 2008 until 2018). They pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal at least five trade secrets related to exosome research from Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Chen was sentenced in February to 30 months in prison for her role in the scheme.

Exosomes play a key role in the research, identification and treatment of a range of medical conditions, including necrotizing enterocolitis (a condition found in premature babies), liver fibrosis and liver cancer.

Court documents detail that Zhou and Chen conspired to steal and then monetize one of the trade secrets by creating and selling exosome “isolation kits.” Zhou’s research at Nationwide Children’s included a novel isolation method in which exosomes could be isolated from samples as small as one drop of blood. This method was vital to the research being conducted in Zhou’s lab – because necrotizing enterocolitis is a condition found primarily in premature babies, only small amounts of fluid can safely be taken from them.

Zhou and Chen started a company in China to sell the kits.

The defendants received benefits from the Chinese government, including the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Zhou and Chen were also part of application processes related to multiple Chinese government programs, including talent plans, a method used by China to transfer foreign research and technology to the Chinese government.

As part of their convictions, the couple will forfeit approximately $1.45 million, 500,000 shares of common stock of Avalon GloboCare Corp. and 400 shares of common stock of GenExosome Technologies Inc. They were also ordered to pay $2.6 million in restitution.

Chen and Zhou were arrested in California in July 2019 and their case was unsealed in August 2019 when they appeared in federal court in Columbus.

 

[gangsta_rap]

conspiring to steal exosome-related trade secrets concerning the research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions.

How is this wrong? This just makes capitalist US look even worse. Trying to detain people who just want to save lives.

Marx was right....

 

[colonel rajesh]

Hospital Researcher Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Steal Trade Secrets and Sell to China

An Ohio man was sentenced yesterday to 33 months in prison for conspiring to steal exosome-related trade secrets concerning the research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions.

www.justice.gov

View attachment 737064

An Ohio man was sentenced yesterday to 33 months in prison for conspiring to steal exosome-related trade secrets concerning the research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions.

Yu Zhou, 51, of Dublin, Ohio, pleaded guilty in December 2020 to stealing scientific trade secrets related to exosomes and exosome isolation from Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Research Institute for his own personal financial gain. Zhou also conspired to commit wire fraud.

“Yu Zhou sought to exploit U.S. taxpayer dollars intended to fund critical, life-saving research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital through the whole-sale theft of their trade secrets,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Zhou’s greed was encouraged and enabled by a series of Chinese Government programs which incentivize thievery in an attempt to supplement China’s own research and development goals on the back of American ingenuity and investment. This successful prosecution should serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to profit from pilfering hard-earned U.S. trade secrets.”

“Yu Zhou willingly took part in the Chinese Government’s long-term efforts to steal American intellectual property,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel for the Southern District of Ohio. “Zhou and his wife executed a scheme over the course of several years to set up businesses in China, steal American research, and profit from doing so. The couple deserves the time it received in federal prison.”

According to court documents, Zhou and his co-conspirator and wife, Li Chen, 48, worked in separate medical research labs at the Research Institute for 10 years each (Zhou from 2007 until 2017 and Chen from 2008 until 2018). They pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal at least five trade secrets related to exosome research from Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Chen was sentenced in February to 30 months in prison for her role in the scheme.

Exosomes play a key role in the research, identification and treatment of a range of medical conditions, including necrotizing enterocolitis (a condition found in premature babies), liver fibrosis and liver cancer.

Court documents detail that Zhou and Chen conspired to steal and then monetize one of the trade secrets by creating and selling exosome “isolation kits.” Zhou’s research at Nationwide Children’s included a novel isolation method in which exosomes could be isolated from samples as small as one drop of blood. This method was vital to the research being conducted in Zhou’s lab – because necrotizing enterocolitis is a condition found primarily in premature babies, only small amounts of fluid can safely be taken from them.

Zhou and Chen started a company in China to sell the kits.

The defendants received benefits from the Chinese government, including the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Zhou and Chen were also part of application processes related to multiple Chinese government programs, including talent plans, a method used by China to transfer foreign research and technology to the Chinese government.

As part of their convictions, the couple will forfeit approximately $1.45 million, 500,000 shares of common stock of Avalon GloboCare Corp. and 400 shares of common stock of GenExosome Technologies Inc. They were also ordered to pay $2.6 million in restitution.

Chen and Zhou were arrested in California in July 2019 and their case was unsealed in August 2019 when they appeared in federal court in Columbus.

View attachment 737065

chinese ? its ok

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

How is this wrong? This just makes capitalist US look even worse. Trying to detain people who just want to save lives.

Are you serious?

If they really had "noble" intentions they would have went to the UN with it to help the poor children in the world for free.

Instead they simply planned to be a competitor and line their pockets with millions.

Marx was right....

Give me a break...Marx would have angrily slit their throats for being just as greedy.

 

[Globenim]

This is what you get for naively working your *** off for the public arm of the U.S. regimes covert bioweapons programme and thinking America is a nice place that wont stab and defraud you when the U.S. state propaganda mouthpieces need some fake headlines about China or you dare to claim a fairly worked for piece of the cake of shared knowledge and brainpower for yourself and not just exclusively let the U.S. regime drain your brain and line their pockets like with countless Chinese engineers and scientists openly and blatantly accused of "stealing" their very own research in a society where its complely socially acceptable to display blatant racism towards Chinese for centuries until this very day while touting hollow phrases about equality and justice.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

This is what you get for naively working your *** off for the public arm of the U.S. regimes covert bioweapons programme and thinking America is a nice place that wont stab and defraud you when the U.S. state propaganda mouthpieces need some fake headlines about China or you dare to claim a fairly worked for piece of the cake of shared knowledge and brainpower for yourself and not just exclusively let the U.S. regime drain your brain and line their pockets like with countless Chinese engineers and scientists openly and blatantly accused of "stealing" their very own research in a society where its complely socially acceptable to display blatant racism towards Chinese for centuries until this very day while touting hollow phrases about equality and justice.

Not surprised. This is the typical usual low ethics mindset Chinese response repeated over an over. Have somebody ELSE front the millions in research money, build the team, organize the research, hire you, and then when the task is completed, lunge at the table, grab the results, stuff it in your pocket, and run away out the door with it for your own personal gain. Just a self-centered "FU to everybody else" mindset repeated over and over and over.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Could this case have driven by racial animus, and were they deprived of due process or coerced?

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Could this case have driven by racial animus, and were they deprived of due process or coerced?

They pled guilty. They admitted setting up companies in China to sell the hospital's research product and even admitted receiving Chinese Government money without alerting the hospital

 

[aziqbal]

yet another cover up by the Chinese authorities

check this news

Covid-19 pandemic: China 'refused to give data' to WHO team

A member of the team accuses China of withholding full data on the early days of the outbreak.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Dual Wielder]

So much for entrepreneurial spirit..

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

They pled guilty. They admitted setting up companies in China to sell the hospital's research product and even admitted receiving Chinese Government money without alerting the hospital

pleading guilty just means the Indian prosecutor threatened them with more jail time, higher fines and additional charges if they didn't, plus they'd have to pay for possibly years of legal fees for their defense lawyers no matter if they win or lose. they could've also been remanded without bail and spent those years in jail regardless.

it's proven that many innocents are forced to plead guilty.

Guilty pleas have replaced trials for a very simple reason: individuals who choose to exercise their Sixth Amendment right to trial face exponentially higher sentences if they invoke the right to trial and lose. Faced with this choice, individuals almost uniformly surrender the right to trial rather than insist on proof beyond a reasonable doubt, defense lawyers spend most of their time negotiating guilty pleas rather than ensuring that police and the government respect the boundaries of the law including the proof beyond a reasonable doubt standard, and judges dedicate their time to administering plea allocutions rather than evaluating the constitutional and legal aspects of the government’s case and police conduct.

 

[dbc]

They pled guilty. They admitted setting up companies in China to sell the hospital's research product and even admitted receiving Chinese Government money without alerting the hospital

pleading guilty just means the Indian prosecutor threatened them with more jail time, higher fines and additional charges if they didn't, plus they'd have to pay for possibly years of legal fees for their defense lawyers no matter if they win or lose. they could've also been remanded without bail and spent those years in jail regardless.

it's proven that many innocents are forced to plead guilty.

Do you really live in the US?

People plead guilty to misdemeanours and hence it represent the majority - pleading guilty when facing jail time is rare unless the evidence is overwhelmingly against you and the judge is likely to show some leniency in sentencing for not wasting days in lengthy pointless deliberations.

I've been called to the stand in IP theft cases in four countries US, UK, Canada and the Netherlands. These cases never go to trail unless there is real hard evidence.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Do you really live in the US?

People plead guilty to misdemeanours and hence it represent the majority - pleading guilty when facing jail time is rare unless the evidence is overwhelmingly against you and the judge is likely to show some leniency in sentencing for not wasting days in lengthy pointless deliberations.

I've been called to the stand in IP theft cases in four countries US, UK, Canada and the Netherlands. These cases never go to trail unless there is real hard evidence.

I've never had to defend myself in a court of law because I don't commit crimes. Maybe you have quite a great deal of experience appearing in court.

Anyhow that is simply not true, yet again. The Atlantic notes that even for felonies the vast majority of cases are guilty pleas.

The vast majority of felony convictions are now the result of plea bargains—some 94 percent at the state level, and some 97 percent at the federal level. Estimates for misdemeanor convictions run even higher.

 

[dbc]

I've never had to defend myself in a court of law because I don't commit crimes. Maybe you have quite a great deal of experience appearing in court.

Anyhow that is simply not true, yet again. The Atlantic notes that even for felonies the vast majority of cases are guilty pleas.

I was a witness for the prosecution two of the four times it was my IP that was stolen.
The Atlantic report you cite have four sob stories and no real evidence to support your theory.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

I was a witness for the prosecution two of the four times it was my IP that was stolen.

your personal IP? anyhow, this case is different, as he is accused of 'stealing' IP by utilizing common scientific principles that he personally worked on and used his time and labor to create, while employed by a nonprofit organization.

The claimed IP was instead published in an open journal. In general, journal publications are available for commercial use as part of scientific literature.