Industrial Espionage

The Valspar Corporation is one of the largest global coatings manufacturers in the world, providing coatings and coating intermediates to a wide variety of customers. Since 1806, Valspar has been dedicated to bringing customers the latest innovations, the finest quality, and the best customer service in the coatings industry.

The paragraph above is from the website of the Valspar Corporation. You know their products and you've probably used them, like spray paint, for example. Valspar is in the news because they, like a lot of the companies operating in the USA, are under attack. In this case, a literal attack, by an industrial spy.

David Yen Lee, 52 years old, of Arlington Heights, Ill., worked as technical director of new products for the company's architectural group in Wheeling, Ill. He quit his job at Valspar on March 16, according to an FBI statement, two weeks after returning from a business trip to China.

Mr. Lee is a naturalized American citizen.

When the Valspar people examined Mr. Lee's Blackberry and laptop, items that he had turned in when he resigned with immediate effect, they found a data copying program, they found that his files had been purged, and they found evidence that propriety formulary information had been downloaded.

Mr. Lee's LinkedIn page proclaimed that he had taken a job with a major Chinese paint and coatings manufacturer.

Authorities found that Mr. Lee had purchased a one way ticket to Shanghai. They found his packed travel bag, and in it was a little computer memory drive, loaded up with Valspar data.

The maximum penalty for the crime of which Mr. Lee has been accused is 25 years in prison.

If Mr. Lee is found guilty, I hope he gets a long prison sentence here in his adopted country.