Indian national admits stealing trade secrets in US

An Indian engineer in the US has admitted to stealing trade secrets from two medical technology companies, media reported Thursday.

Ketankumar Maniar, 37, an Indian national, was arrested during a search operation by the FBI agents in June 20, 2013. A hard drive containing trade secrets of Bard and Becton companies was recovered from his hotel room in New Jersey state in north-eastern America, the Star-Ledger reported.

Maniar Wednesday pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets, US Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.

Maniar faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count of stealing trade secrets.

He has been in custody since his arrest.

Maniar worked as an engineer in the two firms based in New Jersey.

He was employed in C.R. Bard from 2004 to 2011 and at Becton, Dickinson and Co. (BD) from 2012 to 2013.

While working for the medical technology companies, Maniar downloaded files with product information on to computer storage devices, including external hard drives and thumb drives, the report said citing court documents.

He also used his work e-mail accounts to forward trade secrets to his personal accounts, it added.