Former Chinese employees accused of theft might try to flee: Apple

Smartphone maker Apple told a US court that it was concerned that two of its former employees, accused of stealing trade secrets, will attempt to flee the country before their trials start, if their location is not kept under surveillance. According to reports, lawyers said that the location of both Jizhong Chen and Xiaolang Zhang needs to monitored because both of them posed flight risks

Assistant US Attorney Marissa Harris said that if either one of the accused left the country and went to China, it would be very difficult to prosecute on the basis of the charges against them. According to reports, three current employees of the tech giant were in court to offer any kind of support to the lawyers fighting Apple's case and also Anthony DeMario who serves as a strategic adviser to Apple. 

Reading Apple's statement to US District Judge Edward J Davila, Marrissa Harris said that the company's intellectual property is at the centre of its innovation and growth. She further readout that it is imperative for the accused to cooperate in order to see this case through but if given a chance they might not be willing to help conclude the case against them. According to reports, Chen and Zhang were taken into custody based on charges of stealing trade secrets of the company while on their way to an airport to fly to China and have been monitored since being let out on bail.

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Over 2,000 files stolen

Prosecutors made claims that Chen apparently stole more than 2,000 files that contained information on diagrams, schematics and pictures of computer screens showcasing pages in Apple's databases with an intention to share them people outside the company. According to reports, he was arrested by the police at a railway station while on his way to catch a flight.

Prosecutors claimed that Zhang was working on one of Apple's discreet project on self-driving cars before he stole files related to the programme and revealed that he was on his way to work for a Chinese company. According to reports, he was arrested by officials at the airport right when he was about to board an aircraft to China.

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(With inputs from agencies)