Motorola Sues Four Former Employees

Motorola Inc., filed suit against four former employees, one of whom was indicted in April on charges she planned to smuggle company secrets to China.

The lawsuit filed by the Illinois company charges Hanjuan Jin, a U.S. citizen born in China, of downloading more than 1,000 company documents, which were confiscated when she attempted to board a plane to China Feb. 28, 2007, the Arlington Heights, Ill., Daily Herald reported Wednesday.

The suit also names former Motorola employee Xiaohua Wu and Wu’s spouse Shaowei Pan, who is chief technology officer for company rival Lemko Corp. Former Motorola employees Xiaohong Sheng and Xuefeng Bai were also named in the suit.

The former employees, all software engineers, are charged with computer fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets, the Daily Herald reported.

The theft was valued at $600 million, but the suit asks for $5,000 in damages and for the defendants to return all company information, the report said.