A former Hydro-Québec employee was officially charged with espionage Tuesday for allegedly obtaining trade secrets for the Chinese government while he worked for the provincial Crown corporation.
Yuesheng Wang, 35, appeared by videoconference in the morning at the courthouse in Longueuil, Que., after he was arrested Monday at his home in Candiac, south of Montreal. He was assisted by a translator during his appearance.
The federal Crown objected to bail in Wang’s case, fearing he is a flight risk. He will be back in court Friday for discussion about a bail hearing, when more evidence will be disclosed, the court was told.
Wang is accused of a total of four charges, including obtaining trade secrets under the Security of Information Act. This is the first time in Canada that someone has faced the economic espionage charge, according to the RCMP.
Aside from espionage, he also is charged with the unauthorized use of computer, fraud for obtaining trade secrets and breach of trust by a public officer.
The offences are alleged to have taken place between February 2018 and October 2022. The espionage charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, he said.
In a news release, the RCMP said its national security enforcement team began an investigation in August after receiving a complaint from Hydro-Québec’s corporate security branch. Wang allegedly conducted research for Chinese universities and filed patents based on the results that undermined the provincial Crown corporation’s intellectual property.
Hydro-Québec said Wang was a researcher who worked on battery materials with the Centre of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage. Its security team launched its own investigation before quickly flagging authorities.
— with files from Global News’ Phil Carpenter, Annabelle Olivier, Aaron D’Andrea and The Canadian Press