Cool Cola Conspiracy: Ex‑Engineer Iced into a 120‑Million‑Dollar Heist
Δ In a scene straight out of a corporate thriller, a former senior engineer from Coca‑Cola has been hauled into Tennessee court on trumped‑up charges of swiping $120M in trade secrets and handing them over to a Chinese firm. The Justice Department called it a “clean‑cut theft” of BPA‑free packaging tech that’s the Holy Grail for food safety.
Who’s the Player?
- You Xiaorong – the erstwhile Coke tech wizard living that glass‑door life in Atlanta (though she’s done it abroad too).
- Liu Xiangchen & Co. – a Chinese national and a shady relative, both eyeing the next big thing: BPA‑free packaging.
It’s a classic “hi‑tech heist”: the tech that replaces the notorious bisphenol‑A (BPA) chemical—known as a health villain in recent years—has become a gold‑mine in the food packaging arena.
They Wanted the Crown Jewels
Liu’s game plan? He promised You a fancy new job and the chance to snag the “Thousand Talents” award, a flashy trophy in China that’s supposed to be about bringing cutting‑edge tech back home. Shocking twist: intelligence folks say the program is also a magnet for techno‑pirates.
The Alleged Bunch
According to the indictment, You conspired with Liu and his relative to pilfer these formulations. The documents claim she politely moved the data across borders so that a new Chinese company could launch a rival line of BPA‑free product wrapping—a direct smackdown on the American rivals that gave them the info.
U.S. Attorney’s Takedown
“This is a premeditated, egregious theft of over $100M worth of trade secrets,” said J. Douglas Overbey, speaking like a judge in a courtroom drama. “China keeps rewarding this kind of outright IP theft through programs like Thousand Talents.”
Coca‑Cola’s Silent Stance
The company’s Atlanta voice told us she won’t comment because the case is still in its early days. She did, however, confirm that You once worked at Coca‑Cola, but that’s all—no more!
Bottom line: In the high‑stakes world of tech secrets, cross‑border theft can be a blockbuster—unless you’re the prosecution, in which case it turns into a courtroom thriller.
