GE Engineer Linked to China Stole Power Plant Technology, FBI Says

Xiaoqing Zheng, a U.S. citizen, was hired by GE in 2008 to work in its power division in Schenectady, N.Y., according to an affidavit by a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent filed Wednesday in federal court in Albany, N.Y. The FBI is conducting a wider inquiry into the suspected theft and use of GE's trade secrets. Agents searched Mr. Zheng's house Wednesday and seized his passport, electronic devices and a handbook that explains "the type of resources the government of China will give to individuals or entities who can provide certain technologies," according to the affidavit. To conceal the documents, Mr. Zheng on July 5 embedded encrypted files into the code of a seemingly innocuous image of a sunset to send them to a personal email address, the FBI alleged. He told FBI agents that he used similar techniques to take GE materials on five to 10 previous occasions, according to the affidavit.