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← All case files CS-029 / Last reviewed Aug 23, 2026 Jump to sources ↓

Energy & advanced manufacturing / 2005–2014

A GM engineer copied 16,000 hybrid-vehicle files before building a venture aimed at a Chinese automaker

Days after accepting a severance offer, General Motors engineer Shanshan Du copied thousands of files, including hybrid-motor source code and schematics. She and her husband then pursued a business relationship with Chery Automobile.

Finding

A jury convicted Du and Qin of conspiracy and unauthorized possession of GM trade secrets. Du was acquitted of wire fraud; Qin was convicted on all counts, including wire fraud and obstruction, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed.

01 / Executive brief

Executive summary

Shanshan Du worked in General Motors' hybrid-vehicle group. After accepting a severance offer in January 2005 and before leaving the company, she copied approximately 16,000 files to an external drive. The collection included source code, motor-control material, and engineering schematics related to hybrid vehicles. S1S2

Du and her husband, Yu Qin, developed Millennium Technology International and pursued a joint venture that contemplated selling related technology to Chinese automaker Chery. Both were convicted of trade-secret conspiracy and possession; Qin was also convicted of wire fraud and obstruction after agents saw him discard shredded subpoenaed records. Du received one year and one day, Qin three years, and their convictions were affirmed. S1S2S3

Police booking photographs of Yu Qin and Shanshan Du shown side by side
photograph

Yu Qin and Shanshan Du in law-enforcement booking photographs published by the Associated Press. Both were convicted of trade-secret offenses; Du was acquitted on the wire-fraud counts.

Associated Press via South China Morning Post · Editorial use; all rights remain with the originating agency and publisher

02 / The vignette

What happened

The copy happened inside the departure window

Du accepted GM's severance offer, then used the remaining access period to move roughly 16,000 files to an external drive. When she left, she certified that she had returned company property. The copied material stayed with her and later appeared in the couple's private business environment. S1S3

A venture supplied the commercial pathway

Du became president of Millennium Technology International while Qin pursued partners and potential investors. Trial evidence tied the venture's aggressive development schedule to technology similar to GM's and showed communications aimed at a relationship with Chery. The files were therefore not merely archived; they sat beside an effort to commercialize adjacent hybrid-motor capability. S2S3

Denials and shredding extended the scheme

When GM questioned the couple, both denied retaining its files. A later search recovered more GM documents. The day investigators executed a warrant and served subpoenas, surveillance agents watched Qin discard bags of shredded records in a grocery-store dumpster; reconstructed documents supported the obstruction conviction. Du, however, was acquitted on the wire-fraud counts, a separate outcome preserved here. S3

03 / Anatomy

How access became transfer

This chain reconstructs the sequence supported by the cited record. It does not imply that every legitimate relationship follows the same path.

  1. 01

    Relationship established

    GM hybrid engineer

    Du's engineering role exposed her to GM motor-control and hybrid-vehicle development files. S1S3

  2. 02

    Sensitive access gained

    Severance access remained active

    She retained system access after accepting severance and before her employment ended. S1S3

  3. 03

    Information acquired

    Sixteen thousand files copied

    Du moved a large GM collection, including trade-secret documents, to an external drive. S1S2

  4. 04

    Assets moved

    Files entered MTI environment

    GM documents were found in the defendants' possession and connected to their private venture. S3

  5. 05

    Technology put to use

    Chinese joint venture pursued

    The couple sought to exploit similar hybrid technology through a proposed relationship with Chery. S2S3

  6. 06

    Competitive harm

    Convictions and affirmed sentences

    Both received prison terms; Du's wire-fraud acquittals and Qin's additional convictions remained intact on appeal. S2S3

04 / Evidence boundary

What is established—and what is not

Established in the record

  • Du and Qin were convicted of conspiring to possess and possessing GM hybrid-vehicle trade secrets without authorization. S2S3
  • Qin was convicted of wire fraud and obstruction; Du was acquitted of wire fraud. S3

Uncertain, limited, or unresolved

  • GM estimated the stolen documents at more than $40 million, but that figure is a company estimate and not restated as the court's loss calculation. S1S2

Subject response / procedural context

  • Both defendants contested the case at trial and on appeal. The appellate court affirmed, while Du's trial acquittals on wire fraud remained part of the final outcome. S3

05 / Sequence

Timeline

  1. Files copied before departure

    Du accepted severance and copied approximately 16,000 GM files during the exit window. S1S3

  2. Search and shredding

    Agents recovered retained GM documents and observed Qin discarding shredded subpoenaed business records. S3

  3. Jury verdict

    Both were convicted on trade-secret counts; Du was acquitted on wire fraud while Qin was convicted on all counts. S2S3

  4. Appeal decided

    The Sixth Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences. S3

06 / People and institutions

Who appears in the public record

Shanshan Du

Former GM hybrid engineer and MTI president

Outcome: Convicted of trade-secret offenses; acquitted of wire fraud; sentenced to one year and one day

Yu Qin

Du's husband and MTI organizer

Outcome: Convicted on all counts; sentenced to three years

Millennium Technology International

Private venture through which the couple pursued hybrid-technology business

Chery Automobile

Prospective Chinese commercial partner

Originator / affected institution

General Motors

Developer and owner of the hybrid-vehicle trade secrets

07 / Consequences

Documented and attributed harm

Attributed estimate

GM estimated the 16,000-file collection, including hybrid trade secrets, at more than $40 million. S1S2

08 / Hindsight analysis

Where leadership could have seen risk

These are our analytic judgments based on the public record, not court findings. They are framed to improve controls without treating nationality as a risk factor.

Severance created a live collection window

Access remained broad during the period between accepting departure terms and actually leaving the company.

A spouse-operated venture multiplied risk

Employer information moved into a separate commercial entity whose relationships and objectives were outside normal conflict review.

09 / Apply the lesson

Actions leaders can take

  1. companies

    Re-scope access at notice

    Reduce permissions and monitor bulk transfers as soon as severance, resignation, or involuntary-departure decisions are known.

  2. companies

    Review family-linked ventures

    Require disclosure of outside companies controlled by employees or close relatives when their products overlap protected work.

  3. both

    Preserve and reconstruct evidence

    Issue legal holds quickly and maintain the forensic ability to recover deleted, shredded, or dispersed business records.

10 / Source record

Sources

Links point to the public record reviewed for this file. Government releases can summarize court proceedings but remain government-authored sources; the source note identifies those limits.

  1. S1

    Indictment: United States v. Yu Qin and Shanshan Du ↗

    U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan · Published Jul 22, 2010 · Retrieved Aug 23, 2026

    Charging document; later verdict and appeal control the outcome statements.

    court record
  2. S2

    Eastern District of Michigan Annual Report for 2013 ↗

    U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan · Published Dec 31, 2013 · Retrieved Aug 23, 2026

    government release
  3. S3

    United States v. Shanshan Du and Yu Qin, Opinion Affirming Convictions ↗

    U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Published Jun 26, 2014 · Retrieved Aug 23, 2026

    court record