Oklahoma man pleads guilty to lying about proprietary data taken to China

An Oklahoma man pleaded guilty on Apr. 1 after admitting he lied to U.S. customs officials while trying to board a flight to China with proprietary information from his employer.

The case highlights concerns over intellectual property theft and the risks posed by insider threats in American companies.

According to court documents, Junjie Zhang, also known as Jeff Zhang, age 57 and from Tulsa, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement. Zhang is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from China who worked as a senior material and process engineer for an aviation company in Wichita. His role gave him access to confidential and proprietary data.

In 2018, Zhang’s employer reported suspicious behavior during his work trip to China, prompting an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In September 2019, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stopped Zhang at Dallas airport as he attempted to fly to China. When asked if he had any work-related materials on his electronic devices, Zhang told agents “no,” claiming that his thumb drive and laptop only contained personal information. However, CBP agents found documents marked “Proprietary” and “Confidential,” including graphs and blueprints related to the aviation company’s work. After this discovery, Zhang said he had permission from his employer—an assertion later denied by the company when contacted by the FBI.

U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser said: “Americans invest heavily into technological research and development. Intellectual property theft causes U.S. companies across numerous sectors to lose billions of dollars a year. Often that cost ultimately falls on consumers. Not only are Internet hackers a risk for this theft but so are insider threats from rouge employees.” Kriegshauser added: “The Department of Justice works tirelessly to safeguard the hard-earned intellectual property of Americans and their companies from theft.”

Authorities estimate that the value of proprietary data found on Zhang’s devices exceeds $100,000.

Zhang is scheduled for sentencing on July 23, with a federal district court judge set to determine any penalty after reviewing sentencing guidelines and other factors.

The FBI and CBP investigated the case; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Rask and Taylor Hines are prosecuting.