Home Albany Press Releases 2010 Former Employee of Bristol-Myers Pleads Guilty to Theft of Trade Secrets
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Former Employee of Bristol-Myers Pleads Guilty to Theft of Trade Secrets

U.S. Attorney's Office November 05, 2010
  • Northern District of New York (315) 448-0672

SYRACUSE, NY—Shalin Jhaveri, 30, entered a guilty plea this morning to a one-count information charging him with theft of trade secrets from Bristol-Myers Squibb, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York Richard S. Hartunian.

Jhaveri holds a Ph.D. and was employed at the time of his arrest in February 2010 as a technical operations associate in Bristol-Myers’ management training program. During his employment, Jhaveri stole trade secrets from Bristol-Myers and devised a plan to convert them to his own use. At the time of his arrest, Jhaveri was meeting in a Syracuse, New York hotel room with an individual he believed was an investor willing to finance a business venture Jhaveri planned to start in his native India. Jhaveri transferred Bristol-Myers trade secrets to this investor, an individual he knew was not employed by or associated with Bristol-Myers in any capacity.

As part of his plea, Jhaveri admitted the following: (1) while employed by Bristol-Myers in its management training program at its Syracuse facility, he devised a plan to steal trade secrets of Bristol-Myers and convert them to his own use; (2) he did steal trade secrets from Bristol-Myers, and in doing so used methods to disguise his actions and evade detection by the company; (3) he communicated, using a specially created e-mail account and password he set up expressly for that purpose, with an individual he knew was not employed by or affiliated with Bristol-Myers, who he believed to be an investor willing to finance a business venture Jhaveri planned to start in his native India; (4) Jhaveri discussed with and transferred to that individual trade secrets he had stolen from Bristol-Myers; and (5) when asked by this investor whether the information he had taken from Bristol-Myers was everything he needed, responded that it was. Jhaveri also consented to the entry of an order of removal/deportation from the United States by an immigration judge, to take place upon completion of any jail term imposed, and to not seek relief or take an appeal from such order. Jhaveri acknowledged that such an immigration order, upon execution, will render the defendant inadmissable to the United States.

Jhaveri faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, up to three years of supervised release and deportation.

U.S. Attorney Hartunian praised the substantial investigative efforts of the FBI and commended the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service for its cooperation and valuable assistance in this case. FBI Albany Division Special Agent in Charge John Pikus noted the increasing significance of investigating and prosecuting thefts of trade secrets and intellectual property from U.S. companies, and stressed the need for continued cooperation amongst all federal law enforcement agencies to address this growing problem.

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