New York Resident Charged With Stealing GE Data Hidden in 'Sunset Image' - DoJ

A man from New York was charged Wednesday with stealing trade secrets related to turbine technologies from its employer General Electric, the US Justice Department said.

According to ABC News10 reports, federal agents executed a search warrant at a home in Niskayuna Wednesday morning. Xiaoqing Zheng, 55, was taken into custody after the FBI as well as homeland security investigators raided his house.

Zheng appeared in federal court in Albany, New York and was ordered detained without bail pending a hearing on Thursday.

"Zheng is alleged to have used steganography to hide data files belonging to GE into an innocuous looking digital picture of a sunset, and then to have e-mailed the digital picture, which contained the stolen GE data files, to Zheng’s e-mail account," the statement read.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to three years, according to the DoJ.

According to the US Attorney's office, Zheng is an engineer for the company. General Electric issued a statement on the DoJ investigation. 

"We have been in close cooperation with the FBI for some time on this matter. At GE, we aggressively protect and defend our Intellectual Property and have strict processes in place for identifying these issues and partnering with law enforcement. We won’t have any additional comment at this time as this is an ongoing investigation," GE said in a statement.