corn theft complaint

8/13/2019 Corn Theft Complaint

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA /Z- XJWUAYCRIM INA L COM PLAINT

M O HAILONG,also known as, ROBERT M O, CASE NUM BER: 4:13-M J-267Defendant.

1, the undersigned complainant being duly swom state the following is true and correct tothe best of my knowledge and belief. From on or about September of 201 1, and continuing untilon or about October of 2012, in Polk County, in the Southern District of Iowa, the defendant,MO HAILONG, also known as, ROBERT MO, did violate Title 18, United States Code j 1832(theh of trade secrets).

I further state that I am a Special Agent with the Fedvral Bureau of lnvestigation and thatthis Complaint is based on the following facts:See Affidavit attached and incomorated

Continued on the attached sheet and made a pari hereof: Z Yes Z Nowe .' / -,4 a, , ...-..e ,..'' z'' ./',Jr z jj j;;.m j'..az -.. .,-j4, / . ,') ( r - .tq'xj z .,..z/ .. , yxz, .:.,..jjr y i :.. . , $,e ';y.p' 'cla(,' Agent S'tephaAle PostFe'' eral Bureau of lnvestigati on

Swom to before me and subscribed in my presence,

j-.' c/t)/'--xttto /( y atDate

Des M oiness IowaCity awd Stlte

/ Signature of Judicial OffierRoss A. W alters. U.S. M acistrate JudReN.me & Title of Judieial Offier

Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 1 of 24


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D lihjjjjjkkkiijjjlll;, -UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF IOW A

IN THE M AU ER OF THE APPLICATIONOF THE UN ITED STATES OF AM ERICAFOR THE ISSUANCE OF A CRIM W ALCOM PLAm T AGAW ST M O HAILONG,ALSO KNOW N AS, ROBERT MO,

Case No. 4:l 3-mj-267UNDER SEAL

AFFIDAVIT

1, Special Agent M ark E. Betten , being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:The information contained in this affdavit is provided solely for the purpose of

establishing probable cause for the issuance of a Complaint.I believe that there is probable cause to show violations of 1 8 USC 1 832 (theft of

intellectual property).ln support of this application, the following information is provided:

of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, assigned to theOmaha Division, Des Moines Resident Agency. As such, I am an investigative or lawenforcement officer of the United States within the meaning of Title 1 8 USC Section 3052. Ihave been a Special Agent of the FBI for approximately 16 years and have been assigned to theOmaha Division since 2000. Prior to joining the FBI l served eight years in the United StatesMilitary. l have received specialized training in the identification and investigation of theft of

I am a Special Agent

intellectual property and interstate transportation of stolen property.I am fully fam iliar with thefacts of the case. The facts set forth in this affidavit are based on my pm icipation in theinvestigation described below and discussions with other law enforcement personnel involved in



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tht invcstigation. The information contained in this amdavit is solely provided for the pumoseof cstablishing probable cause for the issuance of arrest warrcts, search warrants for thtprtmises described above. and seizure warrants. and thus does not contain every fact known tome aboul this invesligation.

The FBI has been conducling an investigation of theft of trade secrets of bio-engineered corn seed by various subjccts since September 201 l .The investigation has focusedprimarily on Mo Hailong lltobert ,Mo is a Chinese national who became a Lawful PermanentResidenl (LPR) in the United States pursuant to an H-1 B visa. l Ie is ostensibly tmployed as theDirector of International Business of tht Beijing Dabcinong Technology Group Company, whichis part of DBN Group. DBN Group is believed to t)e a Chincse conglomerate with a corn seedsubsidiary company, Kings Nower Seed. To summarizc. and dtscribed in detail below, there isprobable cause to belicve that Mo and co-conspirators are engaging in criminal activity to stealthe intellecmal property of tJ.S. bascd seed manufacturing companies and transporting that stolenintellectual prow rty back lo China for the lxnetit of their China-based seed company.

ln addition to Mo and his overseas co-ccnspirat/rs. the FB1*s investigatien isfocusing on several potential tKinsiders - al U.S. based seed companies. These insider cmployeesare susmcted of conspiring with Mo to provide the locations of test tields ling utilized to growbio-engineered seed antl/or providing the underlying gene sequences for bio-engineered seeddeveloped by (he victim companies.

4. On 6/30/201 1 . FB1 agents assigned to the Des Meines. Iowa office conducted aroutine liaison visit to Pioneer Hi-Bred Comoration locatcd in Johnston. lowa. During that visilyPioneer security ofticials advised the agents of a suspiciotls incident on May 2 and 3, 20l l in one



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Jof its grower s test fields near Tama, Iowa. (Pioneer contracts with private growers to grow avariety of proprietary :binbred or tparent test seed. This inbred test seed is considered byPioneer to be extremely valuable and intellectual property of Pioneer. They take reasonablesteps to protect its development and consider it a iitrade secret ).

On 5/2/201 1, Mo and W ang Lei, the Vice Chainnan of Kings Nower Seed (thecorn seed subsidiary company of DBN Group in Beijing), approached the grower of the Pioneertest field and asked what he was planting in his field. n e grower replied seed com . Accordingto the grower, one of the Asian males said that they had been attending an agriculture conferencein Am es, lowa.

6. The following day on 5/3/201 1, a Pioneer field manager saw M o on his knees inthe snme grower s field, which hadjust been planted within the previous two days, and anotherAsian male sitting in a nearby car.The field manager confronted M o in the field and asked whathe was doing. M o said he worked for the University of Iowa and the other individual in the carwas from China. M o explained that they were going to attend a conference in Ames or DesMoines (the field manager could not remember which location M o stated). When the fieldmanager received a telephone call, M o and the Asian male quickly departed the area, drivingdown through the ditch in order to leave quickly. The field manager described M o as being verynervous and his face was flushed, The field manager stated the other Asian male (W ei) was thedriver of the car. The field manager obtained the license plate which Pioneer security personnel

used to trace back to a rental car com pany at the Kansas City airport and rented by M o Hailongresiding in M inmi, Florida. FBI agents have subsequently confirmed that there were no USDAor Iowa State University agriculttlre related conferences being hosted during the time period,



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Jindicating Mo s statement to the farmer and the field manager were both false. The grower sfield was not marked with any identifying information indicating it was a test field for PioneerHi-Bred and the tseld is in a very remote and rural area of Iowa not immediately off a well-traveled route of travel. An Omaha Division FBI agent confinned with Pioneer officials that thisparticular field was growing one of their two or three most highly-anticipated inbred corn seedproducts they expected to bring to market within the next several years. Pioneer officialsconfirmed that the theh of that product would result in an extremely significant economic loss tothe company. M o rented the car on 4/22/201 1 and retumed it on 5/6/201 1 . It appears he utilizedit the entire time and traveled extensively through M idwestem ifarm belt states during thatperiod of time.

On 9/6/201 1 , the Polk County Sheriffs Office responded to a report of Asianmales acting suspiciously near a farm field in Bondurant, lowa. W hen the deputy responded, heidentified Mo Hailong i Robert , W ang Lei, and Li Shaoming (The FB1 believes Li Shaoming isa PhD scientist and CEO for Kings Nower Seed, DBN S seed subsidiary in Beijing). When thedeputy asked what they were doing, M o explained that the other two individuals were fromChina, that they had tlown into Chicago, and that they were driving across the M idwest lookingat crops. M o expressed surprise that a law enforcement officer would respond and question thembecause in China, the farmers welcome their assistance. M o, W ang, and Li then departed thearea. An Omaha Division FBI agent has since interviewed the owner of the fann field. The

owner stated he is a contract grower for Monsanto.Monsanto, based in St Louis, is a majorproducer of bio-engineered corn seed in the United States. The owner did not know what type ofseed is being grown because M onsanto deliberately keeps that infonnation private to protect the



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X10. ln early February 2012, the FBI received information that Mo and W ang would be

meeting at O Hare aimort on 2/14/2012 and tlying on to Des M oines that evening to take part inthe activities surrounding the visit by the Vice President of China on 2/1 5 - 2/16/2012. The FBIinitiated surveillance at the Des M oines airport on the evening of 2/14/2012 and confirmed thatW ang anived in Des M oines and boarded a bus with a large nllmber of other Asian individuals.The bus transported the group to a hotel in Urbandale, lowa. Mo was not observed. It wasconfirmed the following m orning that W ang was a registered guest, but there was no registrationfor Mo.

During the moming of 2/1 5/2012, Pioneer security notified the FBI that they wereconsdent that M o was at their headquarters on a totlr with a large group of Asian visitors.Pioneer reported that M o signed into their facility using an alias name of Hougang W u,Chairman of Dalian Zhangzidao Fishery Group. Pioneer security confirmed that M o waswearing a name tag with the alias. A FBI surveillance team acquired surveillance of M o severalhours later taking part in a tour of a M onsanto research facility in Ankeny, lowa. Later thatevening, Mo attended the state dinner hosted by the Iowa Governor for the VP of China.

The following morning on 2/16/2012, M o attended an agriculture sym posium atthe W orld Food Prize in Des M oines and surveillance confrmed he again used the aliasHougang W u during that event. Later in the afternoon, Mo and W ang met with Xaoming Bao, aChinese seed executive and former Pioneer employee, at a sports bar restaurant near theUrbandale hotel where both W ang and M o were staying. Bao s spouse is currently an activePioneer employee, working as a corn geneticist researcher. After attending another event in theevening at the W orld Food Prize building, M o returned to the hotel in Urbandale for the evening.

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Jin further detail below, that M O is the renter of a storage facility in the immediate vicinity of thisu-turn activity).

1 6.Pioneer seed dealer in Dallas Center, Iowa (approximately 15 miles west of Des Moines). MO

On 4/30/2012, FBI surveillance tenms observed M O stop at Crossroads Ag, a

was observed loading bags of seed into the back of his rental vehicle.A subsequent interview ofthe store owner revealed M O purchased six bags of Pioneer Hi-Bred corn seed for 1533.72cash. The owner explained MO has purchased seed in a similar mnnner the last two years aswell, that he always pays cash, and is always evasive when asked direct questions about what hedoes with the seed. The store owner explained in years past, M O always asked for Pioneer'svtlatest products,'' but this year he came in with a list of seed products he was interested in. Thestore owner explained that Pioneer would not be happy if they learned M O was purchasing seedin such a malmer because seed dealers, pursuant to their contract with the company, may onlysell seed to farmers they know have signed a growing agreement, binding them to the terms ofutilizing the seed. The store owner explained M O has never signed such an agreement and thestore owner should not sell it to him.

On 5/1/2012, FBI surveillance tenmsinitiated surveillance of M O in the DesM oines, lowa area. Surveillance teams observed him drive to M FA Agri Services located inPattonsburg, Missouri (approximately 120 miles from Des Moines). Subsequent investigation bythe FBI determined M O purchased six bags of DeKalb (*DeKalb'' is a com seed trade nameowned by Monsanto) for 1,366.00 cash. An interview of the store owner explained MO hasbought seed in a similar fashion for three years, always pays cash, and is always very vagueabout what he does with it.There are num erous Monsanto and Dekalb dealers within a twenty-

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Jmile radius of Des M oines.After M O purchased these six bags of seed, he rettumed to the Adel,Iowa area where he was observed loading and unloading items from his rental vehicle into alocal storage facility. The storage locker facility was in the immediate area of where M O wasobserved the previous Saturday conducting u-turns and backing in to parking lots to apparentlyobserve traffic. An FB1 agent from the Omaha Division inteniewed the storage locker owner.The owner confinned that unit 48 was rented by an individual using the name CtMO Hailong.Unit 48 was confirmed to be in the immediate area where M O was observed unloading the bags.

18. After M O finished at the storage locker, he drove straight back to the farm inMonee, Illinois ptzrchased by Kings Nower Seed. Surveillance teams observed him unloadingwhat appeared to be bags of seed from the rental vehicle into a storage shed on the property.

On 5/2/20 12, FBI surveillance team s observed M O being accom panied in therental vehicle by two Asian m ales, subsequently identified during a traftic stop by local police asYE Jian, and LIN Young, both PRC nationals and employeesof DBN / Kings Nower Seed.

worked for Kings Nower Seedepartment of State visarecords revealed that YE stated heCompany and was going to Iowa to attend meetings.FBI surveillance teams observed M O andYE together daily dtzring the time YE visited the United States. At no time, did surveillanceteams observe YE visit the state of lowa (although there was a period of approximately 24 hourswhere surveillance was broken off in the area of Davenports Iowa but the FBI believes MO andYE continued to the Galesburg, lllinois area given their lmst known direction of travel.)

20. During the time YE was in the country with MO, they spent the majority of theirtime driving slowly tllrough rural farm areas of primarily Illinois and some limited time inIndiana. They also spent considerable time at the farm owned by Kings Nower Seed near

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G aMonee, Illinois.

2 l .rental car at a local FEDEX shipping location in Orland Park, Illinois. M O, assisted by YE andLlN, tmloaded tive boxes and dropped them off. A FBI employee went in the store after M O

On 5/l 1/20 12, FBI surveillance teams observed MO, YE, and Lm arrive in the

depm ed and the store clerk allowed the FBl employee to examine the packages. There werefive boxts, eaeh twenly-fsve pounds, addressed to an individual in Hong Kong. On the label,thecontents were listed ms tcorn seed. The FBI believes since M O ptlrchased approximately 500lbs. of seed while in M issouri and Iowa, he attempted to ship approximately half of it whilepossibly planting or storing the other half at the farm in M onee, further described below. BothYE and M O departed the Chicago area from O Hare airport on 5/1 5/2012. During a routineborder crossing search of YE s checked luggage, no items of evidentiary value were located.

22. On 5/14/2012, M emphis FB1 agents obtained court-authorization to conduct asearch of the five boxes of seed shipped via FedEx.Contained in each box was approximatelyeight or nine gallon sized baggies full of corn seed. There were 42 bags total Each bag had apiece of paper in it with a handwritten number such as 1203, 12 l0, 12 13, etc. These numbers donot correspond to any product IDs of commercial seed products that the FBI could determine,Your affiant believes these generic handwritten numbers were utilized to obscure and conceal themanufadurer and origin of the seed, but that MO and his co-conspirators have a Sikey lhatwould identify the products.

23. FBI agents have conducted interviews of Stine Seed executives and Pioneerexecutives about intellectual property concerns of a competitor purchasing regular hybrid seedcorn from a seed dealer. Each company s executives,independent of one another, explained that

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ain a regular bag of hybrid seed corn, approximately one half of one percent of that bag willcontain the tptlre inbred'' seed used to create that hybrid. Knowledgeable individuals in the seedindustry would know this fact and there are a variety of methods som eone intent on stealing theintellectual property, contained in the inbred seed, could utilize to steal this seed. One of themethods is testing in a laboratory, or a more simple method would be to plant the bag of seedcorn and after the seed begins to germinate and grow, an inbred plant can be distinguishedthrough its characteristics. This plant can then be isolated and the inbred seed harvested. Seedcompanies take reasonable steps to protect against this possibility by requiring their dealers tosell seed only to farmers who have signed a grower agreement, agreeing not to do this activity.The Pioneer China country manager, who is a Vice President for Pioneer, advised the FBI thatone of DBN'S best-selling corn seed products in China utilizes a male parent (inbred) line of seedthat Pioneer detennined their company developed. The Pioneer VP confronted a DBN executiveon this fact, somewhat sarcastically congratulating the DBN ofticial on the success of theproduct since it utilized a Pioneer-developed genetic trait, and the DBN official smiled andnodded, implicating acknowledging to the Pioneer VP the truth of the accusation. Pioneerexecutives estimated that the loss of an inbred line of seed would result in losing approximately5-8 years of research and a minimum of 30-40 million dollars, potentially much more, if theproduct is very successful.

24. On 8/l 5/2012, FB1 agents assigned to O'Hare airport learned that YE would bcarriving on 8/18/201 2.FBI surveillance observed YE being picked up at the O'Hare aiport byEugene YtJ, Chinese-American real estate realtor in the Chicago area. Over the next severaldays, surveillance observed YE and ;l spending nnuch of their time at the farm in Monee,

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aIllinois as well as taking part in sight-seeing activities in downtown Chicago.

25. On 8/22/2012, FBI agents assigned to O Hare airport learned that LI (the CEO ofKings Nower) would be aniving on a tlight in to O Hare on 8/25/201 2.

26. On 8/28/2012, FBI agents learned, thzough court-autholized surveillance on YE scellular telephone, that YE and YU discussed renting a storage locker at Infinite Self-storage inNew Lenox, lllinois. YU and YE discussed finding a storage location in a location that wouldnot attract attention. FB1 agents believed YE would likely utilize this locker to store cornsnmples either stolen or collected during his activity in the United States.

On 8/29/2012, FBI agents obtained court authorization to install a GPS trackingdevice and an audio listening device in an Entemrise rental caz being rented by Lm and utilizedby him and YE. During the time period of 8/29/2012 to 9/5/2012 when LIN retum ed the rentalvehicle, the GPS tracking device showed the vehicle spending significant time in rural areas ofNorth Central Illinois, and m aking stops in areas that appeared to be farm elds. The listeningdevice in the car, which was activated when LIN and YE picked up the car on 8/25/2012 atapproximately 5:25 p.m. and expired at approximately 5:25 a,m. on 9/4/2012, corroborated thisactivity. The recording device recorded numerous occasions wherein YE and Lm wereidentifying ikparent fields belonging to Pioneer and M onsanto and then stopping to get out andsteal ears of corn to bring back to the car in order to tag and categorize them. During therecording, YE and Lm discuss the direction they receive from L1 (the Kings Nower CEO) andthe activity of M O, LI, and W ANG in the past collecting samples, including when they wereconfronted (the FBI believes YE and Lm are refening to either the incident in the Pioneergrower tield in May 201 1 or the Bondurant tield in September 201 1). Also on the recording is a

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adiscussion about their knowledge of their illegal activity. An excerpt of this conversation is asfollows:

Lm :

You can forget about ever coming to the U.S. again, assuming things gowrong. You can never come. Isn't that ruining an individual's future?lf it's just not being able to come to the U.S. again -That's no biggie.that's no biggie. l don't think it's that simple. I actually, the law in theU.S - l studied law

Oh yeah, you practiced law.

Lm :

YE :L1N : These are actually very serious offenses. You, you -

They could treat us as spiesThat is what we've been doing W hat I am trying to say is, as for thecharges, there could be several -Yeah.

Lm :

LPq' It's e-htlm , trespassing other people's private property, that's one;secondly, theft/larceny; and the third, violation of IP law. That's threecharges.That's right.E :

LIN: All criminal offenses. . .not just blocking us from visiting, This, e-hum, Dr.Ll, he -YE: ...vhasn't he considered these?Lm :YE:Lm :

...,he actually knows clearly, he knows.He should.He actually has done some research on such subjects, he said that to me.He's studied al1 sorts of things. According to him self, he has positionedhimself when he was twenty-five or twenty-six years old as ZHU Geliangga military counselor from an ancient Chinese novel), a counselor type of



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G Qperson who helps others on an entrepreneurial effort but not anentrepreneur type of person himself.. .so he learned different professionalskills. W hen he started to work for DBN, he was the VP of the financialaspects, what major you would think he studied?W ow so good. . .W hen the seed operation was latmched, he was in charge of the legal side,and at the time I am the person who studied law, and logically gUI). So hehas the knowledge of all aspeds, he really understandsThat's right. This is an adventure. Actually, I e-hum ,that person has toldE :IN C -

Lm :YE :

Actually l rather not think. . .- actually, the person, before I cnme, told me that what you guys are doingis troublesom e. m sky.ls it Lao MO? ($Lao'' is a term for a senior or steacher'' The FBI believesLm is refening to Mo Hailong)No. (Ul1 (mumbled a nameq, my other half.My fnmily just has no clue what I am doing here. My Oldman asked mewhat you guys are doing staying in the U.S. for so long? W hat can I say?Can't say anything.

Lm :

YE :L I'N :

YE :L IN :

Can't say anything that will make your family worry about you.ltight He also said that, when you are in the U .S., you can't even speakwell -Aaughs)- for such a long time, what are you going to do? Yeah,when I thinkabout it, what he said make sense. So if we were to get in trouble,it'sgoing to be much more than just not being able to come to U.S.again. ..that's the least to worry about. Either way. I don't really want tocome to the U.S. anyway.Right.

YE :Lm :

But that, is trouble.



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JYE : So (sighy. The company can't afford the legal cost.

How could they? No, they can't afford the indemnity, and we individualstake huge risks too. See these are private properties, entering withoutpennissions is considered a crim inal offense.. .Right,But that also depends on tht consequences. Taking things from thcproperty is theft. W hen the number of stolen goods reaches a certainnmotmt, this becomes IP violation. Nowadays the U.S. is very hostile toChina on this matter. lf this time they opt to -gDeep sigh)- if they max the ptmishment, then we are done. 1 can't think of this,whenever I think about these, I just can't do anything. But I mentioned itto Dr. LI that I don't agree on running this project for such a long time.

YE :Lm :

YE :Lm :

The longer the time is, the more likely we get in trouble.Exactly That's just so urmecessary All we got this year are male parents,why? The male parents are subspecies (sicl . . .. and I figure that more thanhalf of that are duplicates.Very likely they are duplicates.The hybrids are probably from a second cycle line when we get back (toChina) too, I figure, we'll see. lf we really have to, we can come next yearand just dig My point is that the outcome doesn't justify the effort weput in We take such a huge risk, for such a long time, just to get someduplicates. From decision-making standpoint, I think it's not gUIj. Dr.Ll's personality tends to go extrem e. . .Yeah, apparently.

Lm :

YE :LlN :

YE :

28. On 9/1 1/2012, FBI agents in Des Moines, Iowa observed via a stationary polecamera, three Asian m ales arrive in what appeared to be a Silver Dodge Journey at the storagelocker near Adel, Iowa (the same storage locker MO was observed at in April and May 2012).

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l he three males were obsened loading and unloading itcms kn to thc locker. Due to the qualityof the video and thc angle of th car (that did not have a front licepse plale). the agcnts observingthe video wcre unable to identify the car or its occupants. They spent approximately twentyminutes at thc location.

29. On 9/23/2012, the samc vehicle, believed to be a Dodge Joumey. possibly with aM ichigan Iicense plate, was observed via the pole camera back at the storage locker near Adellowa.During this visit. for appfoximately one hour, two Asian matcs were observtd loading andunloading iems in to the storage facility. After lhis sccond visil. FBI personnel in Omaha andChicago bcgan efforts lo idenlif y the occupants of the suspeced Dodge Journey.

0n 9/26/201 2, FBI surveillanct irl the Chicago Division obscrved YE and LI in aSilver Dodge journey, with Michigan license plales. They were observcd at the Infinite Self-Slorage facility in Ncw Lenox, Illinois.Surveillance agents conducted a walk-by of the storageunit and observcd many individual tars of com along with packaging mattrials. It appeared lyothYE and LI were in the locker packing materials.

n e FBI intcrviewed thc storagc locker manager. The manager stated that thelocker was rcnled by Eugent YU on 8/3 1 /2012 mzd hc was accompanied by wo Asian malesThe slorage manager stated thal YU wantcd lo rcn the locker in the name of the company butwould not provide the company s name. Ullimately YU provided his own name and paid cashfor a three-month rental.

On 9/27/2012, the storage manager confronted YE and L1 who w ere at the storagelocker. According to the storage managtr. on the previous Tuesday. he obsen ed YE ard LI inthe locker with hundreds of ears of corn and told them they could not store perishablcs and food



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Jitems because it attracted rodents. The manager told them they had until Thursday to remove allthe com . W hen YE and LI appeared to fail to understand English, the manager called YU andinstructed him to remove the corn by Thursday. W hen the manager confronted YE and LI,theywere placing corn into individual bags and that they had hundreds of individual ears placed onshelves in the locker that they had installed.

33. On 9/28/2012 at approximately 9:00 a.m., FBI surveillance observed the storagemanager arrive and immediately go to the locker to inspect it. Shortly later YE and LI loaded theSilver Joumey full of material from the storage locker and transported it to the farm in M oneewhere FBI surveillance observed them appearing to unload it at that location.

34. FBI agents received information that M O would be arriving at O Hare airport onthe evening of 9/28/20 I2.FBI agtnts receivtd court authorization to place a listening devict inM O s rental car, a Ford Escape.

35. On 9/29/20 12, FBI surveillance observed multiple vehicles at the farm location inM onee. In addition to the Dodge Joumey, a vehicle belonging to YU was present, and aChevrolet M alibu with a M ichigan license plate. A check of the plate confinned the carbelonged to Enterprise Rental Car. Enteprise personnel advised the car was rented by anindividual named Wang Hongwei (hereafter referred to as t HONGW EI so as not to confusewith W ang Lei referenced earlier during the suspicious incidents in the Ioyva Gelds as thesurveillance at the Des Moines airport in February 2012). HONGWEI entered the United Statesby a Iand border crossing from Canada on 9/28/2012. Later in the mom ing

, M O anived in theW hite Ford Escape. Surveillance observed at least 5ve individuals, believed by the FBI to beM O, LI, YE, HONGW EI, and YLJ moving multiple boxes between the vehicles and the garage

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Jof the farm , Later in the ahem oon, a11 five of the individuals departed to eat together at a localrestaurant. One unknown individual in a mini-van remained at the farm location. Surveillancepersormel were unable to identify this individual.

36. On the evening of 9/29/2012, YE was observed by surveillance retmming theDodge Journey to the Enteprise rental location near O Hare aip ort After the car was returned,an FBI agent, with the consent of Enterprise persormel, collected refuse left behind in the carThe Enterprise representative found a plastic bag in the rear passenger doox thal was consideredto be refuse left behind by YE. The plastic bag contained Scotch tape,Verizon W ireless brandreplacement ear cushions, a plutic subway bag with what appeared to be corn kemels, dirt, anddebris from a corn cob, and one rubber band, a napkin with 9-5 - 9-13:213, 9-19 - 9-22: 106, and9-14 - 9-l 8:43 written on it, tags with writing on them , and rubber bands. There were alsoseveral loose kernels of corn left in the tnmk area of the vehicle. Surveillance units observedYE being picked up by M O at Enteprise. Afler M O, YE, Ll and HONGW EI ate at a localrestaurant, they ehecked in to a local hotel ntar the aiport for the evening.

On Sunday morning 9/30/20 12, the listening device in M O s Ford escaperecorded MO and others, believed to be LI, YE, and W ANG, discussing how the packages weregoing to be divided to earry for transport. The individuals discussed Ll s bag being full of iylsand that M O would carry some as well. They discussed that in the past they have sent threeseparate packages by different means and they all got through. MO continued to instruct YE onhow important it was to thoroughly clean the rental cars before being retumed because

,itgl-le) didnot want to leave any traceable marks or clues in the car. MO ftm her told YE that in the past,he (MO), WANG Lei, and Dr. LI washed the car together. MO added that he s cautious because

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Jhe's i Done it too many times- way too many times.''

38. Surveillanct then observed MO and YE depart for the airport in the W hite FordEscape. L1 and HONGW EI depm ed shortly later in the M alibu rented by HONGW EI. At theaimort, the U.S. Custom s and Border Patrol conducted border crossing searches of YE's and Ll'schecked bags. YE and LI were tlying to China, and M O and HONGW EI were on domesticUnited States tlights. lnside Ll's two checked bags, USCBP officials located two bulk-sizedmicrowave popcorn boxes, each appearing to be factory-sealed. Upon opening the boxes, on topwere actual microwave packages of popcorn. but once they were moved, inside each box wereapproximately 100 small manila envelopes with a generic num ber written on each one

,e.g. 2155,2403, 20362, etc. The generic numbers on the envelopes do not correspond to GPS coordinatesnor do they correspond to any legitimate product ID code for Pioneer,M onsanto, or other cornseed manufacturers that could be detennined. Your affiant believes these generic numbers wereutilized to additionally obscure the true owner or identity of the product and that M O and/or hisco-conspirators are m aintaining a tikey'' that identifies what product or location each of thegeneric codes corresponds to. In addition to the two popcorn boxes, LI also had approximatelythirteen brown grocery type bags with a generic number written on the outside,e.g. 6 F1'' Each ofthese bags contained additional envelopes. These thirteen bags were also in Ll's checked bags.

39. An outbound inspection of YE's checked luggage revealed that he hadapproximately thirty subway napkins wrapped around individual kemels of corn secreted in hisclothing within his bag. Since MO and W ANG were flying dom estically

,their luggage was notsubjected to a USCBP search.

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* J40. USCBP persormel contacted both YE and LI at the gate area to inform them of the

outbound inspection and to ask them for an explanation. LI spoke very little English and wastmable to provide any answers. YE, who is reported to speak good English,was at a nearby gatearea. Airline personnel repeatedly paged him to which he failed to respond even though he wassitting in the immediate vicinity. USCBP personnel then approached him and interviewed him .YE stated he did not know anyone else in tht local area and was traveling by himself USCBPpersonnel located additional napkins with corn seed in YE s pockets USCBP personnel havedetained al1 of the com seed located at O Hare in the luggage of YE and LI,and on the person of

FBI surveillance of HONGW EI observed him obtain a boarding pass at a Unitedself-check terminal. Airlint personnel confirmed he was scheduled to tly to Burlington,Vermont. FBI agents in the Omaha Division coordinated with FBl agents in Burlington,VT toconduct surveillance of HONGW EI upon his arrival and coordinate with USCBP at the Canadianborder to conduct an outbound inspection if he attempted to cross into Canada.

42. FBI surveillance agents in Burlington located HONGW EI S car at the Burlingtonairport that he previously used to cross the border, and established surveillance. Surveillancepersonnel stated that when HONGW EI anived at the aimort terminal, he appeared to besurveillance conscious. After leaving the aimortin his car, surveillance agents reported thatHONGW EI engaged in a series of driving m aneuvers deliberately designed to detect and evadesurveillance. Surveillance agents lost contact with HONGW EI when he made a quick turnwithout a signal into a mall parking lot The surveillance agents notified USCBP persormel attwo nearby border crossings that contact was broken and to be alert for HONGW EI.

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J43. At approxim ately 7:40 p.m., USCBP personnel at the Highgate Springs Port of

Entry observed HONGW EI S vehicle and directed it for secondary screening pursuant to theirborder crossing search authority. A search of HONGW EI S car and luggage in the car revealedthat he had approximately 44 bags hidden under his seat and in his luggage. Each of the bags(nearly identical to the brown grocery sacks containtd in Ll s luggage at the aimort) had ageneric number written on it, such as M3, F3, Z3, etc. lnside each bag were approximatelytwenty manila envelopes with varying mnount of corn kernels in each envelope. The envelopeswere numbered in a similar manner to the envelopes obtained at O Hare airport, Also locatedduring the outbound inspection was a notebook containing numerous GPS coordinates alongwith handwritten notes next to each set of coordinates in Chinese M andarin. HONGW EI alsohad a digital camera containing hundreds of pictlzres of various corn fields and what appear to beproduction facilities for corn seed manufacturers such as M onsanto and Pioneer HiBred. Duringan interview of HONGW EI, he stated he had been visiting in Burlington for several days. W henhe was confronted with a boarding pass for his tlight to Chicago, HONGW EI admitted he hadtraveled to Chicago. W hen asked why he had the corn hidden, he explained he knew he couldnot legally take the corn in to Canada. HONGW EI staled he purchased the corn from anindividual in Chicago named M o Hailong. Aher completing the search and interview ofHONGW EI, he was released and a11 his property was returned with the exception of the kernelsof corn.

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Q JCONCLUSION

46. Based on tht foregoing, your affiant believes there is probable cause to believethat violations of 1832 (theft of intellectual property) have or are occuning.

W HEREFORE, your Affiant respectively requests lhat the Courtagainst the above-named individuals.

issue a Com plaint

Respectfully submitted,,14f 6-3t::3'-- . --'---zyl . . z,, .--y-.' - e2z :) - ,. . Jl------kfjqjy- -,r,z--?k ... .

corn theft complaint

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