2 men, Klaus Pflugbeil and Yilong Shao, are accused of stealing Tesla's battery tech, setting up a company in China, and face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Two men, Klaus Pflugbeil and Yilong Shao, have been accused of stealing battery manufacturing technology from Tesla and setting up a company in China using the stolen proprietary information. Pflugbeil, a Canadian citizen living in China, was arrested on Long Island after meeting with undercover federal agents. Both men are charged with conspiracy to transmit trade secrets, which carries up to a 10-year prison sentence if convicted. The technology in question involves high-speed battery assembly lines that Tesla owns and uses for electric vehicle manufacturing. Prosecutors claim that the two men set up their company in China and expanded it to locations in Canada, Germany, and Brazil, offering their own battery assembly lines made with Tesla's stolen proprietary information.