In February Patently Apple posted a report titled "Details of the FBI's Complaint before the Court against a former Apple Employee for Stealing Project Titan Trade Secrets Revealed." The report noted that Apple had begun investigating Jizhong Chen, who worked as a hardware engineer and optics on Project Titan, when another project employee reported seeing the engineer taking photographs in a sensitive work space. Chen was arrested and Apple's complaint before the court stated that Chen was trying to find a way out of the country after they told Chen to not leave the U.S.

Apple is still concerned that Chen and a second employee spy Xiaolang Zhang are flight risks. Reuters is reporting this afternoon that "Apple Inc on Monday told a federal court it has "deep concerns" that two Chinese-born former employees accused of stealing trade secrets from the company will try to flee before their trials if their locations are not monitored.

At a hearing in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, prosecutors argued that Xiaolang Zhang and Jizhong Chen should continue to be monitored because they present flight risks.

In the cases of both men, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marissa Harris argued that if either man fled to China, it would be difficult if not impossible for federal officials to secure their extradition for a trial.

Harris read Apple’s statement to U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila at a hearing in San Jose, California.  "Apple’s intellectual property is at the core of our innovation and growth. The defendants’ continued participation in these proceedings is necessary to ensure a final determination of the facts, and we have deep concerns the defendants will not see this through if given the opportunity." For more, read the full Reuters report.

Background: Two additional reports that we posted on this subject matter includes the following:

July 2018: Ex-Apple Employee Arrested for Stealing Project Titan Secrets

January 2019: A Second Chinese National Working on Project Titan has been Arrested by the FBI for Stealing Company Secrets