NEWARK, NJ—A former engineer for global medical
technology company Becton, Dickinson, and Company (BD) was arrested this
morning by special agents of the FBI at a hotel in Ramsey, New Jersey,
disrupting his alleged plan to relocate to India with trade secrets he
stole from the Franklin Lakes, New Jersey-based company, U.S. Attorney
Paul J. Fishman announced.
Ketankumar Maniar, a/k/a “Ketan Maniar,” 36, an Indian national recently of Mahwah, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with theft of trade secrets for his own economic benefit. He is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion in Newark federal court to face the charge.
According to the criminal complaint unsealed today:
Until his resignation from BD on May 24, 2013, Maniar was a staff engineer at BD’s Franklin Lakes headquarters, where he was a member of a group responsible for manufacturing prefillable syringes and pen injectors. In that capacity, Maniar had access to trade secret information related to BD products, including a self-administered disposable pen injector still under development by BD and not yet released for commercial sale.
While still employed by BD in May 2013, Maniar downloaded approximately 8,000 files—containing, among other things, highly valuable BD trade secret information related to the pen in development—onto multiple computer storage devices, including external hard drives and thumb drives. Most of Maniar’s download activity occurred during the weeks leading up to his resignation.
Maniar also downloaded BD files from home after he had called in sick to work and forwarded numerous files containing BD confidential information to one of his personal e-mail accounts. The materials Maniar allegedly downloaded essentially comprise a tool kit for mass producing the pen injector.
On June 3, 2013, FBI agents executed court-issued search warrants of Maniar’s hotel room and seized computers and computer storage devices.
The maximum potential penalty for the theft of trade secrets charge is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, with the investigation leading to the arrest. He also credited BD for its cooperation in the matter.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shirley U. Emehelu of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
The charge and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Ketankumar Maniar, a/k/a “Ketan Maniar,” 36, an Indian national recently of Mahwah, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with theft of trade secrets for his own economic benefit. He is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion in Newark federal court to face the charge.
According to the criminal complaint unsealed today:
Until his resignation from BD on May 24, 2013, Maniar was a staff engineer at BD’s Franklin Lakes headquarters, where he was a member of a group responsible for manufacturing prefillable syringes and pen injectors. In that capacity, Maniar had access to trade secret information related to BD products, including a self-administered disposable pen injector still under development by BD and not yet released for commercial sale.
While still employed by BD in May 2013, Maniar downloaded approximately 8,000 files—containing, among other things, highly valuable BD trade secret information related to the pen in development—onto multiple computer storage devices, including external hard drives and thumb drives. Most of Maniar’s download activity occurred during the weeks leading up to his resignation.
Maniar also downloaded BD files from home after he had called in sick to work and forwarded numerous files containing BD confidential information to one of his personal e-mail accounts. The materials Maniar allegedly downloaded essentially comprise a tool kit for mass producing the pen injector.
On June 3, 2013, FBI agents executed court-issued search warrants of Maniar’s hotel room and seized computers and computer storage devices.
The maximum potential penalty for the theft of trade secrets charge is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford in Newark, with the investigation leading to the arrest. He also credited BD for its cooperation in the matter.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shirley U. Emehelu of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
The charge and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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