Chinese Telecom Company Hytera Stole Motorola Technology, Fined 50 Million U.S. Dollars by the United States

uly 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) building in Washington, D.C. (Madalina Vasiliu / People News)

[People News] A federal judge in Chicago on Monday (March 9) imposed a 50 million U.S. dollar fine on China’s Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd. for conspiring to steal proprietary technology from America’s Motorola Solutions and violating criminal law.

According to Voice of America, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said that beginning in 2006, the Chinese telecommunications company Hytera recruited and hired seven Motorola employees and directed them to obtain Motorola’s proprietary and trade secret information without authorization. Prosecutors said the stolen information involved Motorola’s digital mobile radio (DMR) technology, which had been developed over many years. These engineers used the stolen technology, including source code, to develop products for Hytera at extremely low cost and compete with Motorola in the digital radio market until the end of 2020.

In 2022, Hytera, headquartered in Shenzhen, was indicted in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois. Last year, Hytera pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to steal trade secrets.

In addition to the 50 million dollars, the judge also sentenced Hytera to five years of probation, including maintaining an effective compliance program and reporting on that program to the government annually. The judge also ordered Hytera to pay about 214 million dollars in restitution, with that amount to be offset by money Hytera had previously paid as a result of a civil judgment.

The seven former Motorola employees were indicted in 2021. One defendant, Gee Siong Kok, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the U.S. government’s investigation. The other six are wanted.
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