Woman in espionage case pleads guilty

OAKLAND » A woman accused along with her husband and former DuPont engineers of stealing trade secrets and selling them to China has pleaded guilty to a related charge.

Court records show Christina Liew entered the plea Wednesday in federal court in Oakland to conspiracy to tamper with evidence.

Authorities say Liew and her husband, Walter Liew, paid retired DuPont engineers thousands of dollars for sensitive company documents about how to make a white pigment known as titanium dioxide. It’s used to whiten products from cars to the middle of Oreo cookies.

The Liews were accused of selling that technology to China. Walter Liew was sentenced to 15 years in prison last year after a jury convicted him of economic espionage. Two former DuPont engineers have also been convicted of economic espionage.