New Jersey man accused of stealing DuPont secrets
A former DuPont Co. employee is facing up to 10 years in jail after stealing trade secrets from the company's advanced printing division in New Jersey, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Anchi Hou, 61, was arrested at his home in East Brunswick, New Jersey, on Friday.
Hou is accused of stealing more than 20,000 computer files related the DuPont's proprietary flexographic printing plate technology typically used to produce packaging and labels. Court records indicate the longtime DuPont principal investigator planned to use the trade secrets to further a consulting business he launched just before announcing his retirement from the Delaware-based conglomerate.
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During his 27-year-career at DuPont, worked at the company's production facility in Parlin, New Jersey, which makes printing plate products and equipment used in printers that are sold under the brand name Cyrel.
Hou formed a consulting business called Gantac Associates in November – four days before announcing his plan to retire at the end of the year, court records show.
In December, a DuPont employee caught Hou taking photos of Cyrel equipment with his personal phone, according to charging documents. Hou then deleted the photos before turning his phone over to DuPont at his employer's insistence, court records show.
A review of DuPont's computer systems revealed Hou had been downloading company documents to thumb drives since July 2016, court records show.
After being confronted by DuPont, Hou reportedly allowed company security officers to confiscate his home computer. DuPont says Hou's personal computer later was found to contain thousands of documents outlining the manufacturing process for Cyrel printing plates, photographs of the equipment and research reports, along with market and customer data.
DuPont reported the alleged theft to the FBI in February and in March filed a civil suit against Hou in the U.S. District Court of Delaware. Hou was taken into police custody after the FBI learned he and his family had booked flights out of the United States, according to charging documents.
"Upon discovering an apparent theft and misuse of valuable, confidential information owned by DuPont, we took necessary corrective actions," DuPont spokesman Dan Turner said. "Because this is both an ongoing criminal case and a matter of pending litigation, we cannot comment further."
Hou made an initial appearance in federal court on Friday before being released on a $500,000 bond. He is now on house arrest and must wear an ankle monitoring device, a spokesman for the U.S. District Attorney's Office in New Jersey said.
Hou is charged with a single count of theft of trade secrets. In addition to jail time, he could be fined $250,000 or more if found guilty.
Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.