Employee of Hydro-Québec dam charged with espionage by Canadian police

Canadian police charged a Hydro-Québec worker on Monday with espionage for allegedly sending commerce secrets and techniques to China.

Yuesheng Wang, 35, will seem in court docket in Longueuil, Quebec, Tuesday to face fees of acquiring commerce secrets and techniques, utilizing a pc with out authorization, and with fraud and breach of belief by a public officer.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated its nationwide safety enforcement group started an investigation in August after receiving a criticism from Hydro-Québec’s company safety department.

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RCMP Inspector David Beaudoin stated it’s alleged whereas employed with Hydro-Québec Wang allegedly used his place to conduct analysis for a Chinese college and different Chinese analysis facilities. Beaudoin stated he reportedly revealed scientific articles and submitted patents in “affiliation this overseas actor moderately than with Hydro Quebec.”

“He obtained this data to learn the Peoples Republic of China to the detriment of Canada’s financial curiosity,” Beaudoin stated.

Beaudoin stated he used the data with out the information or prior approval of his employer. The alleged crimes happened between Feb. 2018 and Oct. 2022.

Wang, a resident of Candiac, Quebec, south of Montreal, allegedly had entry to the related data as a part of his job on the provincial utility, police stated.

Hydro-Québec’s Bersimis-2 dam in Baie Comeau, Québec, is pictured on Jan. 20, 2018. An worker at Hydro-Québec has been accused of sending commerce secrets and techniques to China by Canadian police.
(David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe by way of Getty Images)

In a press release, Hydro-Québec stated Wang was a researcher who labored on battery supplies with the Center of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage, often called CETEES. The utility stated its safety group launched its personal investigation earlier than shortly flagging authorities.

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“Our detection and intervention mechanisms allowed our investigators to carry this matter to the eye of the RCMP, with whom now we have labored carefully ever since,” stated Dominic Roy, senior director answerable for company safety.

“No group is protected from a scenario like this one, which is why we should at all times stay vigilant and clear, and we should not tolerate violations of the corporate’s code of ethics.”

The former worker didn’t have entry to data associated to Hydro-Québec’s “core mission,” and his accesses have been revoked when suspicions arose, the corporate added. It stated the middle the place he labored develops expertise for electrical automobiles and power storage techniques.

Hydro-Québec is Quebec’s public utility that manages the era, transmission and distribution of electrical energy within the Canadian province, in addition to the export of energy to parts of the northeast U.S.

The RCMP stated overseas interference has emerged as a precedence for legislation enforcement, including that it’s working with at-risk sectors to enhance Canada’s response and resiliency.