FBI: Scientist Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

Tung Pham pleaded guilty earlier this month to seven counts of an indictment that charged him with wire fraud and theft of trade secrets, according to the Philadelphia Division of the FBI.

Pham, 48, worked as a research scientist in the solar technology field, according to the FBI, and attempted to escape a non-compete clause in his employment contract by attempting to create a fake employment contract; Pham had signed an agreement with a start-up Chinese company to work in the same field in which he was already working, the FBI said.

Though the FBI did not name the business, a July 17 press release from the company Heraeus, a precious metals and technology group, said a man named Tung Pham, who worked at the company’s Photovoltaics Business Unit in West Conshohocken, had resigned in April 2011 and taken highly sensitive trade secrets.

According to the press release, Heraeus won a $500,000 judgment reached in litigation with Pham. As part of the settlement, Pham admitted to downloading hundreds of trade secrets and confidential information from Heraeus’ computers before resigning, the press release continued.

The FBI said it executed a search warrant on Pham’s home and found the trade secrets; he was planning to leave for China in a few days to start working for his new employer.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 6.