Chinese National arrested in seed-corn conspiracy

DES MOINES - Federal authorities on Wednesday announced the arrest and indictment of Mo Yun, a Chinese national accused in a conspiracy to steal trade secrets from two U.S. seed corn companies.

U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt said Yun, 42, is the sister of Mo Hailong, also known as Robert Mo, who previously was arrested in December 2013 and charged in the alleged conspiracy, and she is the spouse of Dr. Shao Genhuo, who authorities say is the founder and current chairman of a Chinese conglomerate that has a seed corn subsidiary company.

Last year, federal authorities in Iowa arrested Mo and charged him with conspiracy to steal trade secrets from DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto.

Yun was employed by Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group Company (DBN) - led by Genhuo - from August 2001 to March 2009 in charge of DBN's research project management, according to a U.S. Justice Department statement. Authorities say DBN is believed to be a Chinese conglomerate with a corn seed subsidiary company, Kings Nower Seed.

During the course of the conspiracy, Mo Yun, Mo Hailong and others are alleged to have conspired to steal valuable inbred corn seed from production fields in Iowa and Illinois, according to federal authorities. After allegedly stealing the 'inbred” or 'parent” line of seed - which constitutes valuable intellectual property of a seed producer - the conspirators attempted to covertly transfer the inbred corn seed to China, federal officials said.

The investigation was initiated when DuPont Pioneer security staff detected suspicious activity and alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

'The FBI's investigation into Mo Yun should not go unnoticed by those who seek to steal trade secrets and private business information,” Thomas Metz, special agent in charge of the FBI's Omaha division, said in a statement. 'Identifying and deterring those focused on stealing trade secrets, propriety and confidential information or national security information is the number two priority for the FBI second only to terrorism.”

Court documents filed last year in the case indicated that in February 2012, Mo used an alias to tour Pioneer and Monsanto facilities with a group in the days leading up to a state dinner hosted by Gov. Terry Branstad for then-vice president Xi Jin¬ping, now president of China. FBI surveillance also indicated Mo attended the state dinner and an agriculture symposium the following day at the World Food Prize using the alias Hougang Wu.

When the alleged conspiracy was first made public, federal officials called it the first corporate agriculture espionage case of its kind in Iowa. The potential loss associated with the alleged industrial theft, according to federal investigators, was pegged at between $30 million and $40 million and five to eight years of research time.