FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1997 (202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888
TAIWANESE FIRM, ITS PRESIDENT AND HIS DAUGHTER
INDICTED IN INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE CASE
Third Individual Charged in Ohio Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice announced today the indictment of a Taiwanese businessman, his daughter and his
company on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, receipt of stolen property and theft of trade secrets from an
Ohio manufacturing facility.
In a related matter, the Department of Justice also announced that Ten Hong Lee, a.k.a. Victor Lee pleaded guilty in
U.S. District Court in Cleveland to a one count information charging him with wire fraud for defrauding his employer the
Avery Dennison Corporation of Avery's right to his honest services.
Scott Charney, chief of the Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Emily Sweeney, U.S.
Attorney in Cleveland, said the 21-count indictment was returned in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. The indictment alleges that
from July of 1989 through 1997 the defendants, Pin Yen Yang, a.k.a. P.Y. Yang, his daughter Hwei Chen Yang, a.k.a. Sally Yang
and Four Pillars Enterprise Company, LTD, of Taiwan, engaged in a scheme to defraud Avery of the intangible right to the honest
service of Victor Lee and of its confidential and proprietary information and trade secrets. Since July of 1989 the defendants
have obtained, among things, proprietary and confidential Avery information relating to formulations for self-adhesive products.
The indictment also alleges that on September 4, 1997, the defendants met with Victor Lee in a hotel room in Westlake, Ohio
for the purpose of obtaining Avery confidential and proprietary information, documents and trade secrets in violation of the
Economic Espionage Act of 1996.
Avery, based in Pasadena, California, is one of the nation's largest manufactures of adhesive products, which includes postage
stamps and diaper tape. The company employs more than 16,000 people worldwide.
Defendant P.Y. Yang is the president of Four Pillars, which manufactures and sells pressure-sensitive products mainly in
Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States and the People Republic of Chine. Four Pillars has more than 900 employees and
annual revenues of more than $150 million. There is no evidence that individuals for PRC participated in this scheme.
His daughter Hwei Chen Yang, who has a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from New Mexico State University, was employed most
recently by Four Pillars as an Applied Research Group Leader.
Victor Lee, 47, of Concord, Ohio, and a U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with wire
fraud. The charge alleges that Lee, who was employed by Avery in Concord, Ohio, as research engineer, disclosed confidential and
proprietary information belonging to Avery to Four Pillars. The plea agreement between the government and Lee requires Lee to
cooperate fully with the federal prosecutors in all matters relating to the ongoing investigation and prosecution of Four
Pillars, P.Y. Yang and H.C. Yang.
Each violation of the wire and mail fraud statues and for receiving stolen goods carries a maximum penalty of five years
imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000. Each violation of the Economic Espionage Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years
imprisonment and a maximum fine of $500,000. The money laundering counts carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison
and maximum fine of $500,000.
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97-414
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