LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted two rice researchers from China for conspiring to steal rice technology from a research center in Arkansas.
The indictments announced Friday are linked to a Chinese delegation’s trip in 2013 to the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center in Stuttgart. Two others have been convicted or pleaded guilty previously in a related case.
U.S. Attorney Cody Hiland says Liu Xuejun and Sun Yue were indicted for conspiracy to steal trade secrets and conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property. The indictment says customs officers found stolen rice seeds in Liu and Sun’s luggage when they flew through Hawaii on their way back to China.
Prosecutors say the seeds were designed for use in the medical field and had been developed by Ventria Bioscience.
