Cancer researcher charged with stealing trade secrets for China

A Chinese national cancer researcher was charged by the Harris County District Attorney's Office with stealing trade secrets for China.

Yunhai Li, 35, had been a researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center since 2022, but tried stealing cancer-related research and taking it to China, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Li was in the U.S. on a non-immigrant research scholar exchange visa from the State Department. His research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.

He was charged on Monday with theft of trade secrets, a third-degree felony, and tampering with a government record, a class A misdemeanor. The felony carries a penalty of 2-10 years in prison and fines up to $10,000, while the misdemeanor is punishable with up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

“Houston is proudly home to some of the most groundbreaking medical institutions in the world – publicly funded centers that are saving lives each day thanks to their innovative research,” Harris County District Attorney Sean Terre said in a statement, The New York Post reported.

“We have zero tolerance for any attempts that hurt our nation and our community’s ability to pioneer critical medical breakthroughs.”

Li was reportedly working on a vaccine to prevent breast cancer from spreading before abruptly quitting on July 1 and uploading the nearly-completed research to a Chinese server called Baidu on his computer.

According to prosecutors, Li uploaded his research to his personal Google Drive while employed at the cancer center, and when the institution caught him, he deleted the files and showed proof that he had.

However, Li was also secretly conducting research for Chongqing Medical University, a conflict of interest he didn't disclose, despite signing a non-disclosure form saying that he had no foreign research ties or funding, according to court records, Fox 26 reported.

As Li attempted to leave the U.S. from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on July 9, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in coordination with Homeland Security Investigations, found unpublished research, trade secrets, and confidential files, including writings, drawings, and models, stored in the Chinese server on his laptop.

After he was arrested, Li allegedly told police that he stole the research because he felt it was his right, saying it was “going to waste,” according to court documents.

"We're not done with the investigation in this case. We know we have enough to get past probable cause, but we have a lot of avenues we have to go down to make sure that everyone involved is held accountable," Teare said. He noted that it is possible that federal prosecutors file their own charges regarding the case.

Li reportedly posted a $5,100 bond and surrendered his passport as a condition of his release.