US citizen pleads guilty to stealing Monsanto’s secrets | Business and Economics

Xiang Haitao has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for conspiring to commit economic espionage.

A Chinese citizen has pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Missouri to conspiring to steal secrets from the agricultural company Monsanto in favor of the Chinese government, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Xiang Haitao, who worked for Monsanto and a subsidiary from 2008 to 2017, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit economic espionage and will be sentenced on April 7, the Justice Department said in a statement. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

Federal officials found that Xiang was waiting for a flight to China in June 2017 to find copies of a proprietary advertising algorithm developed by Monsanto, Xiang said in a statement.

He was allowed to fly to China, and worked at the Soil Science Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was arrested when he returned to the United States, the statement said.