$1 billion in intellectual property theft

2008-11-11

Biswamohan Pani, a former Intel employee is being indicted on one count of stealing confidential information and four counts of wire fraud after illegally downloading over a dozen confidential documents from Intel, valued at over $1 billion.

Vnunet.com reports, "Pani left Intel in June, saying that he was investigating a move to a hedge fund position. As he took vacation time he downloaded the documents, presumably with the intention of using them in his actual new job with AMD."

He reportedly used his Intel laptop to access the company's servers and download commercially sensitive data, including future processor designs and detailed schematics.

AMD is a competitor of Intel's and has since fired Pani, stating that they had nothing to do with the stolen information and are currently co-operating with investigators. AMD made a statement saying "AMD has not been accused of wrongdoing, and the FBI has stated that there is no evidence that AMD had any involvement in or awareness of Pani's alleged actions."

Pani faces up to 10 years in prison for theft of trade secrets and up to 20 years for each wire fraud charge. You can read more about this story here.