Canadian and US media identified the company as Tesla.Klaus Pflugbeil, 58, who also holds German citizenship, pleaded guilty to 'conspiring to send trade secrets that belonged to a leading US-based electric vehicle company,' US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.Pflugbeil now faces up to 10 years in prison for conspiring with co-defendant Yilong Shao, who remains at large, to sell the secrets to FBI agents posing as Long Island businesspeople, the statement said.
'Today's guilty plea demonstrates how this Office will swiftly bring to justice those who misappropriate intellectual property belonging to American companies, to safeguard our economy and national security,' Peace said.According to the statement, Pflugbeil and Shao are former employees of a Canadian manufacturer of automated pumps and battery assembly lines.Canadian media reports have identified the company as Ontario-based Hibar Systems, which was bought by Tesla in 2019.