Tech theft case ends with $50,000 fine

KITCHENER — It sounded like the start of a good novel, but the ending was less than dramatic.

In February 2016, two employees of Waterloo’s Teledyne Dalsa were accused of stealing sensitive satellite imaging technology from their company and selling it to China.

The pair, Arthur Pang, 47, and Binqiao Li, 60, faced a raft of charges, including theft, fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and possession of property obtained by crime.

The charges were the result of a two-year investigation by the RCMP’s organized crime unit, which started after a complaint from the Waterloo company in early 2014.

The Kitchener-based probe also involved the Canadian Space Agency, Canada Border Service Agency, Department of National Defence, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Global Affairs Canada, the U.S Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.

After Pang and Li were charged, both were fired.

In the end, Pang pleaded guilty on Monday only to breaking Canada’s export and customs laws and was fined $50,000. The other 18 charges he faced were dropped by the prosecution. All charges against Li were withdrawn.

No explanation was given in court on why the charges were dropped.

Pang admitted to competing against his own employer on bids for space projects in China. Justice Craig Parry summed it up as a breach-of-trust case.

While employed as Teledyne’s sales manager in Quebec, Pang started his own company, Global Precision Imaging Inc., said prosecutor Bradley Reitz, reading from an agreed statement of facts.

A Teledyne investigation suggested Pang took information and technology from Teledyne and used it to submit contract bids from Global Precision to one of Teledyne’s clients, the Beijing Institute of Space Mechanics and Electricity.

When police began investigating, Pang was in China, Reitz said. Police asked him to return to answer some questions. When he landed in Montreal, Pang was arrested. He spent 22 days in jail.

Pang got no more jail time on Monday after the judge agreed to a joint submission from the prosecution and defence for a $50,000 fine and one year of probation. Pang also must pay a $15,000 victim-fine surcharge.

Pang previously agreed to pay Teledyne $325,000 in a civil lawsuit. Parry took that into account.

“That’s a significant factor, in my view, in this sentencing,” the judge said.

Pang got credit for pleading guilty to two charges, saving court resources in what could have been an extended trial.

The judge warned that if he breaks any probation terms, he could wind up in jail.

Pang, who has no prior record, now works in a Montreal grocery store