Posted July 4, 2014
A second
Chinese citizen has been charged by federal agents in an alleged scheme to
steal high-tech corn seed developed by Monsanto Co., DuPont Co., and LG Seeds,
according to a St. Louis Business Journal article by Diana Barr available here.
The Des Moines Register also published an article available here
and the Wall Street Journal here.
On Wednesday, Mo Yun was indicted on charges of
participating in a five-year plot to dig up seeds and steal ears of corn
developed by the companies and send them to Beijing for the benefit of a
Chinese seed company.
Mo Yun is the sister of Mo Hailong, who
was indicted in December 2013, among six others, on charges of conspiracy
to steal the genetically modified seeds and transport them to China. He
has pleaded not guilty and is set to go trial in December this year,
according to Des
Moines Register.
All seven nationals have been accused in a plot that has
been watched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since 2011.
Yun directed research project management for the Chinese
company and is married to its founder, Dr. Shao Genhuo, who has a net worth of
$1.4 billion.
Nick Klinefeldt, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of
Iowa, said the investigation would progress, and that more seed companies may
have been targeted by the alleged scheme.
"As we get more information,
we're continuing to investigate," he said, according to the Wall
Street Journal.
A spokesman for DuPont said the company would continue to
cooperate with the U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI on this subject.
