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

UNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA /Z-XJW UAY

C R IM IN A L C O M PLA IN T
M O HAILONG,
also know n as,RO BERT M O ,
CA SE N U M B ER :4:13-M J-267
Defendant.

1,the undersigned complainantbeingduly swom statethefollowing istrueand correctto

the bestofm y knowledge and belief. From on oraboutSeptem berof2011,and continuing until
on or aboutOctober of2012,in Polk County,in the Southern Districtof Iowa,the defendant,
M O HAILONG,also known as,ROBERT MO,did violateTitle 18,United StatesCodej 1832
(theh oftradesecrets).
IfurtherstatethatIam a SpecialAgentwith the FedvralBureau oflnvestigation and that
thisComplaintisbased on thefollowing facts:

SeeAffidavitattached and incom orated

Continuedontheattachedsheetandmadeaparihereof: Z Yes Z No
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Swom to before meand subscribed in my presence,

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ittto/(y j-.'c/t)/'--x at DesM oinessIowa
Cityawd Stlte

RossA.W alters.U.S.M acistrateJudRe

N.me& TitleofJudieialOffier / SignatureofJudi
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Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 2 of 24
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF IOW A

CaseNo.4:l3-mj-267
IN THE M AU ER OF THE APPLICATION
OF THE UN ITED STATES OF AM ERICA
FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A CRIM W AL UNDER SEAL
COM PLAm T AGAW ST M O HAILON G,
ALSO KNOW N AS,ROBERT M O,

A FFID AV IT

1,SpecialAgentM ark E.Betten ,being duly sworn,deposeand state asfollows:

The information contained in this affdavit is provided solely for the purpose of

establishing probablecause forthe issuanceofa Complaint.

Ibelieve thatthere is probable cause to show violations of 18 USC 1832 (theftof

intellectualproperty).
ln supportofthisapplication,the following information isprovided:

I am a SpecialAgent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, assigned to the

Omaha Division, Des M oines Resident Agency. As such, I am an investigative or law

enforcementofficer ofthe United States within the meaning ofTitle 18 U SC Section 3052. I

have been a SpecialAgentofthe FBIforapproxim ately 16 years and have been assigned to the

Omaha Division since2000. Priortojoining theFBIlserved eightyearsin theUnited States

M ilitary. lhave received specialized training in the identification and investigation oftheftof

intellectualproperty and interstatetransportation ofstolen property. Iam fully fam iliarwith the

facts of the case. The facts set forth in this affidavit are based on my pm icipation in the

investigation described below and discussionswith otherlaw enforcem entpersonnelinvolved in

Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 3 of 24
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thtinvcstigati
on. Theinformationcontained inthisam davitissolely provided forthepumose
ofcstablishing probable cause forthe issuance of arrestwarrcts,search warrants for tht
prtmisesdescribed above.andseizurewarrants.andthusdoesnotcontainevery factknownto
meaboulthisinvesligation.
TheFBIhasbeenconduclinganinvestigationoftheftoftradesecretsofbio-
engineeredcornseedbyvarioussubjcctssinceSeptember201l.Theinvestigationhasfocused
primarilyonMo Hailong'lltobert'',Mo isaChinesenationalwhobecameaLawfulPermanent

Resi
denl(LPR)intheUnitedStatespursuanttoanH-1B visa.l'
Ieisostensiblytmployedasthe
DirectorofInternationalBusinessofthtBeijingDabcinongTechnologyGroupCompany,which
ispartofDBN Group.DBN Groupisbelievedtot)eaChincseconglomeratewithacornseed
subsidiarycompany,KingsNowerSeed.Tosummarizc.anddtscri
bedindetailbelow,thereis
probablecausetobelicvethatMoandco-conspiratorsareengagingincriminalactivity tosteal
thei
ntellecmalpropertyoftJ.S.bascdseedmanufacturingcompaniesandtransportingthatstolen
intellectualprow rtybackloChinaforthelxnetitoftheirChina-basedseedcompany.
ln additiontoMo andhisoverseasco-ccnspirat/rs.theFB1*sinvestigatienis
focusingonseveralpotentialtK
insiders'-alU.S.basedseedcompanies.Thesei
nsidercmployees
aresusmctedofconspiringwithMotoprovidethelocationsoftesttiel
dsl ingutilizedtogrow
bio-engineeredseedantl/orproviding theunderlyinggenesequencesforbio-engineeredseed
developedby(hevictim companies.
4. On6/30/2011.FB1agentsassignedtotheDesMeines.Iowaofficeconducteda
routineliaisonvisittoPioneerHi-BredCom orationlocatcd inJohnston.lowa.Duringthatvisily
Pioneersecurityofticialsadvisedtheagentsofasuspiciotl
sincidentonM ay2and3,20llin one
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ofitsgrower'stestfieldsnearTama,Iowa.(Pioneercontractswithprivategrowerstogrow a
variety ofproprietary :binbred''ortparent''testseed. This inbred testseed is considered by

Pioneerto be extrem ely valuable and intellectualproperty ofPioneer. They take reasonable

stepstoprotectitsdevelopmentandconsideritaiitradesecret'').
On 5/2/2011,M oandW angLei,theViceChainnanofKingsNowerSeed(the

cornseedsubsidiarycompanyof DBN Groupin Beijing),approachedthegrowerofthePioneer

testfield and asked whathewasplanting in hisfield. n egrowerreplied seed com . According

to the grower,oneoftheAsianm alessaid thatthey had been attendingan agricultureconference

in Am es,low a.

6. The following day on 5/3/2011,a Pioneerfield managersaw M o on hiskneesin

thesnmegrower'sfield,whichhadjustbeenplantedwithintheprevioustwodays,andanother
Asianm ale sitting in anearby car.The field managerconfronted M o in thefield and asked what

he wasdoing. M o said heworked fortheUniversity ofIowaand the otherindividualin thecar

wasfrom China.M o explained thatthey were going to attend a conferencein Am esorDes

Moines(thefieldmanagercouldnotrememberwhich locationM ostated).W henthefield

m anagerreceived atelephonecall,M o and the Asian male quickly departed the area,driving

down through theditch in orderto leave quickly.The field m anagerdescribed M o asbeingvery

nervousandhisfacewasflushed,Thefield managerstatedtheotherAsian male(W ei)wasthe

driverofthe car.The field managerobtained thelicenseplate which Pioneersecurity personnel

used to trace back to a rentalcarcom pany atthe K ansas City airportand rented by M o Hailong

residing in M inmi,Florida. FBIagentshavesubsequently confirmed thatthere wereno USDA

orIowaStateUniversity agriculttlre related conferencesbeinghosted during thetim eperiod,

Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 5 of 24
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indicating M o'sstatem entto thefarm erand the field managerwere both false. Thegrower's

field w as notm arked w ith any identifying inform ation indicating itwas a testfield forPioneer

Hi-Bred andthe tseld isin a very rem ote and ruralareaofIowa notimmediately offawell-

traveled route oftravel.An OmahaDivision FBIagentconfinnedwith Pioneerofficialsthatthis

particularfield wasgrowing oneoftheirtwo orthreem osthighly-anticipated inbred corn seed

productsthey expected to bring to marketwithin thenextseveralyears. Pioneerofficials

confirm ed thatthetheh ofthatproductwould resultin an extremely significanteconomiclossto

the company. M o rented thecaron 4/22/2011and retum ed iton 5/6/2011. Itappearsheutilized

ittheentiretimeand traveled extensively through M idwestem 'ifarm belt''statesduringthat

period oftim e.

On 9/6/2011,thePolk County SheriffsOfficeresponded to areportofAsian

m alesacting suspiciously nearafarm field in Bondurant,lowa. W hen thedeputy responded,he

identified MoHailongi'Robert'',W angLei,andLiShaoming (TheFB1believesLiShaomingis

aPhD scientistandCEO forKingsNowerSeed,DBN'Sseed subsidiaryinBeijing).W henthe
deputy asked whatthey weredoing,M o explained thatthe othertwo individualswerefrom

China,thatthey had tlown into Chicago,and thatthey weredriving acrosstheM idwestlooking

atcrops.M o expressed surprisethata law enforcem entofficerwould respond and question them

because in China,the farmerswelcome theirassistance. M o,W ang,and Lithen departedthe

area. An Omaha Division FBIagenthassince interviewed the ownerofthe fann field. The

ownerstatedheisacontractgrowerforMonsanto.M onsanto,basedinStLouis,isamajor
producerofbio-engineered corn seed in theUnited States. Theownerdid notknow whattypeof

seed isbeing grown because M onsanto deliberately keepsthatinfonnation private to protectthe

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10. ln early February 2012,theFBIreceived information thatM o and W angwould be

meeting atO'Hare aim orton 2/14/2012 and tlying on to DesM oinesthatevening to takepartin

the activitiessurrounding thevisitby theVicePresidentofChinaon 2/15 - 2/16/2012. TheFBI

initiated surveillanceatthe DesM oinesairporton the evening of2/14/2012 and confirmed that

W ang anived in DesM oinesand boarded abuswith alargenllmberofotherAsian individuals.

The bustransportedthegroup to a hotelin Urbandale,lowa. M o wasnotobserved. Itwas

confirmed thefollowing m orning thatW ang wasa registered guest,buttherewasno registration

forM o.

During them om ing of2/15/2012,Pioneersecurity notified theFBIthatthey were

consdentthatM o wasattheirheadquarterson atotlrwith a large group ofAsian visitors.

PioneerreportedthatM o signed into theirfacility using an aliasnameofHougang W u,

Chairm an ofDalian Zhangzidao Fishery Group. Pioneersecurity confirm ed thatM o was

wearing anam etag with thealias.A FBIsurveillanceteam acquired surveillanceofM o several

hourslatertaking partin atourofa M onsanto research facility in Ankeny,lowa. Laterthat

evening,M o attended thestate dinnerhosted by theIowaGovernorfortheV P ofChina.

Thefollowing morning on 2/16/2012,M o attended an agriculture sym posium at

the W orld Food Prize in DesM oinesand surveillanceconfrm ed he again used the alias

Hougang W u during thatevent.Laterin the afternoon,M o and W ang m etwith Xaom ing Bao,a

Chineseseed executiveandformerPioneeremployee,ata sportsbarrestaurantnearthe

Urbandalehotelwhereboth W ang and M o were staying. Bao'sspouse iscurrently an active

Pioneerem ployee,working asa corn geneticistresearcher. Afterattending anothereventin the

evening atthe W orld Food Prizebuilding,M oreturned to thehotelin Urbandaleforthe evening.

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in furtherdetailbelow,thatM O istherenterofastorage facility in the imm ediate vicinity ofthis

u-turnactivity).
16. On 4/30/2012,FBI surveillance tenm s observed M O stop at Crossroads Ag,a

Pioneerseed dealerin DallasCenter,Iowa (approximately 15mileswestofDesM oines). MO

wasobserved loading bagsofseed into the back ofhisrentalvehicle.A subsequentinterview of

the store owner revealed M O purchased six bags of Pioneer Hi-Bred corn seed for $1533.72
cash. The ownerexplained M O has purchased seed in a sim ilar mnnnerthe lasttwo years as

well,thathealwayspayscash,and isalwaysevasive when asked directquestionsaboutwhathe

does with the seed. The store owner explained in years past,M O always asked for Pioneer's

vtlatestproducts,''butthisyearhe came in with a listofseed productshe wasinterested in. The

store ownerexplained thatPioneerwould notbe happy ifthey learned M O waspurchasing seed

in such a m almerbecause seed dealers,pursuantto their contractwith the company,may only

sellseed to farmersthey know have signed a growing agreement,binding them to the term sof

utilizing the seed. The store ownerexplained M O hasneversigned such an agreem entand the

storeownershould notsellittohim .

On 5/1/2012, FBI surveillance tenm s initiated surveillance of M O in the Des

M oines,lowa area. Surveillance teams observed him drive to M FA AgriServices located in

Pattonsburg,M issouri(approximately 120milesfrom DesMoines).Subsequentinvestigationby

the FBIdetermined M O purchased six bagsofDeKalb (*DeKalb''isa com seed trade name
owned by Monsanto)for$1,366.00 cash. An interview ofthestore ownerexplained M O has
boughtseed in a similar fashion for three years,always pays cash,and is always very vague

aboutwhathe doeswith it. There are num erous M onsanto and Dekalb dealerswithin a twenty-

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m ile radiusofDesM oines.AfterM O purchased these six bagsofseed,he rettumed to the Adel,

Iowa area where he was observed loading and unloading items from his rentalvehicle into a

localstorage facility. The storage lockerfacility was in the im mediate area of where M O was

observed the previousSaturday conducting u-turnsand backing in to parking lotsto apparently

observe traffic. An FB1agentfrom the Om aha Division inteniewed the storage lockerowner.

The owner confinned thatunit48 was rented by an individualusing the name CtM O Hailong.''

Unit48 wasconfirm ed to be inthe imm ediateareawhereM O wasobserved unloadingthebags.

18. After M O finished atthe storage locker,he drove straightback to the farm in

M onee,Illinois ptzrchased by Kings NowerSeed. Surveillance team s observed him unloading

whatappeared to bebagsofseed from therentalvehicleinto a storageshed on theproperty.

On 5/2/2012,FBI surveillance team s observed M O being accom panied in the

rentalvehicleby two Asian m ales,subsequently identified during atraftic stop by localpoliceas

YE Jian,and LIN Young,both PRC nationals and em ployees of DBN / Kings N ower Seed.

Departmentof State visa records revealed that YE stated he worked for Kings Nower Seed

Company and wasgoing to Iowa to attend m eetings. FBIsurveillance team sobserved M O and

YE togetherdaily dtzring the time YE visited the United States. Atno time,did surveillance

teamsobserveYE visitthestateoflowa(althoughtherewasaperiod ofapproximately24hours

where surveillance wasbroken offin the area ofDavenportsIowa butthe FBIbelieves M O and

YE continuedtotheGalesburg,lllinoisareagiventheirlmstknowndirectionoftravel.)
20. During thetimeYE wasin thecountrywith MO,they spentthemajorityoftheir
time driving slowly tllrough rural farm areas of prim arily Illinois and some limited tim e in

Indiana. They also spent considerable tim e at the farm ow ned by Kings N ow er Seed near

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a
M onee,Illinois.

2l. On 5/l1/2012,FBIsurveillance teams observed M O ,YE,and Lm arrive in the

rentalcarat a localFED EX shipping location in O rland Park,Illinois. M O,assisted by Y E and

LlN ,tmloaded tive boxesand dropped them off. A FBIemployee wentin the store after M O

depm ed and the store clerk allowed the FBlem ployee to exam ine the packages. There were

five boxts,eaeh twenly-fsvepounds,addressed to an individualin Hong Kong. Onthe label, the

contents were listed mstcorn seed.'' The FBIbelieves since M O ptlrchased approximately 500

lbs.ofseed while in M issouriand Iowa,he attempted to ship approxim ately halfofitwhile

possibly planting orstoring the otherhalfatthe farm in M onee,furtherdescribed below. Both

YE and M O departed the Chicago area from O'Hare airporton 5/15/2012. During a routine

bordercrossing search ofYE'schecked luggage,no itemsofevidentiary valuewere located.

22. On 5/14/2012,M emphis FB1 agents obtained court-authorization to conduct a

search ofthe five boxes ofseed shipped via FedEx. Contained in each box was approximately

eightornine gallon sized baggiesfullofcorn seed. There were 42 bags total. Each bag had a

pieceofpaperin itwith ahandwritten num bersuch as 1203,12l0,1213,etc. These numbersdo

notcorrespond to any productIDs ofcommercialseed productsthatthe FBIcould determine,

Youraffiantbelievesthesegenerichandwritten num berswere utilized to obscureandconcealthe

manufadurer and origin of the seed,butthat M O and his co-conspirators have a Sikey''lhat

would identify theproducts.

23. FBI agents have conducted interviews of Stine Seed executives and Pioneer

executives aboutintellectualproperty concerns of a com petitorpurchasing regularhybrid seed

corn from a seed dealer. Each com pany'sexecutives, independentofone another,explainedthat

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in a regular bag ofhybrid seed corn,approximately one half of one percent ofthatbag will

contain the tptlre inbred''seed used to createthathybrid. Knowledgeable individualsin theseed

industry would know thisfactand there are a variety ofmethodssom eone intenton stealing the

intellectualproperty,contained in the inbred seed,could utilize to stealthis seed. One ofthe

m ethodsistesting in a laboratory,ora m ore simple m ethod would be to plantthe bag ofseed

corn and after the seed begins to germ inate and grow, an inbred plant can be distinguished

through itscharacteristics. Thisplantcan then be isolated and the inbred seed harvested. Seed

companies take reasonable steps to protectagainstthis possibility by requiring their dealersto

sellseed only to farmerswho have signed a grower agreement,agreeing notto do thisactivity.

The Pioneer China country m anager,w ho is a V ice President for Pioneer,advised the FBI that

oneofDBN'Sbest-sellingcornseedproductsin Chinautilizesamaleparent(inbred)lineofseed
thatPioneerdetennined theircompany developed. The PioneerVP confronted a DBN executive

on this fact, som ewhat sarcastically congratulating the DBN ofticial on the success of the

product since it utilized a Pioneer-developed genetic trait, and the DBN officialsmiled and

nodded, im plicating acknowledging to the Pioneer VP the truth of the accusation. Pioneer

executivesestimated thatthe lossofan inbred line ofseed would resultin losing approximately

5-8 years ofresearch and a minimum of $30-40 m illion dollars,potentially much m ore,ifthe
productisvery successful.

24. On 8/l5/2012,FB1 agents assigned to O 'Hare airportlearned thatYE would bc

arriving on 8/18/2012. FBIsurveillance observed YE being picked up atthe O'Hare aip ortby

Eugene YtJ,Chinese-American realestate realtor in the Chicago area. Over the nextseveral

days,surveillance observed YE and ;l spending nnuch of their tim e at the farm in M onee,

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a
Illinoisaswellastaking partin sight-seeing activitiesin downtown Chicago.

25. On 8/22/2012,FBIagentsassigned to O'HareairportlearnedthatLI(theCEO of

KingsNower)wouldbeanivingonatlightintoO'Hareon8/25/2012.
26. On 8/28/2012,FBIagentslearned,thzough court-autholized surveillance on YE's

cellulartelephone,thatYE and YU discussed renting a storage lockeratInfinite Self-storagein

New Lenox,lllinois. YU and YE discussed finding a storage location in a location thatwould

not attract attention. FB1 agents believed YE would likely utilize this locker to store corn

snmpleseitherstolen orcollected during hisactivity in theUnited States.

On 8/29/2012,FBIagents obtained courtauthorization to installa GPS tracking

device and an audio listening device in an Entem rise rentalcazbeing rented by Lm and utilized

by him and YE. During the time period of8/29/2012 to 9/5/2012 when LIN retum ed the rental

vehicle,the GPS tracking device showed the vehicle spending significanttime in ruralareas of

North CentralIllinois,and m aking stopsin areasthatappeared to be farm elds. The listening

device in the car,which was activated when LIN and YE picked up the car on 8/25/2012 at

approximately 5:25 p.m .and expired atapproximately 5:25 a,m .on 9/4/2012,corroborated this

activity. The recording device recorded num erous occasions wherein YE and Lm were

identifying ikparent''fieldsbelonging to Pioneerand M onsanto and then stopping to getoutand

stealears of corn to bring back to the car in order to tag and categorize them . During the

recording,YE and Lm discussthedirection they receive from L1(theKingsNowerCEO)and

the activity of M O,LI,and W ANG in the pastcollecting samples,including when they were

confronted (the FBIbelieves YE and Lm are refening to either the incident in the Pioneer
growertield in M ay 2011 orthe Bonduranttield in Septem ber2011).Also on therecording isa

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a
discussion abouttheirknowledge oftheirillegalactivity. An excerptofthisconversation is as

follows:

You can forgetaboutevercomingto theU.S.again,assumingthingsgo

wrong.You can nevercome.Isn'tthatruining an individual'sfuture?

Lm : lfit'sjustnotbeingabletocometotheU.S.again-
That'sno biggie.

Lm : that'sno biggie.ldon'tthink it'sthatsimple.Iactually,the law in the

U.S - lstudied law !

Y E: Oh yeah,you practiced law.

L1N : These areactually very seriousoffenses.You,you -

They could treatus as spies!

Lm : Thatiswhatwe'vebeen doing!W hatIam tryingto say is,asforthe

charges,there could be several-

Yeah.

LPq'
. It's e-htlm ,trespassing otherpeople'sprivate property,that's one;
secondly,theft/larceny;and thethird,violation ofIP law.That'sthree
charges.

YE: That'sright.

LIN: Allcriminaloffenses...notjustblockingusfrom visiting,This,e-hum,Dr.

Ll,he -

Y E: ...vhasn'the considered these?

Lm : he actually know sclearly,he know s.

...,

Y E: He should.

Lm : Heactuallyhasdonesomeresearchon suchsubjects,hesaidthattome.
He's studied al1sortsofthings.A ccording to him self,he has positioned
himselfwhen hewastwenty-fiveortwenty-six yearsold asZHU Geliang
gamilitarycounselorfrom anancientChinesenovel),acounselortypeof
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person who helpsotherson an entrepreneurialeffortbutnotan
entrepreneurtype of person himself...so helearned differentprofessional
skills.W hen hestarted to work forDBN,he wastheVP ofthe financial
aspects,whatmajoryouwouldthinkhestudied?
W ow so good...

W hen theseed operation waslatmched,hewasin charge ofthe legalside,

and atthetimeIam theperson who studied law,and logically gUI).Sohe
hastheknowledge ofallaspeds,hereally understands.

Y E: That'sright.Thisisan adventure.Actually,Ie-hum , thatperson hastold

IN C -

Lm : A ctually lrathernotthink...

YE : actually,theperson,before Icnm e,told me thatwhatyou guysaredoing

-

istroublesom e.m sky.

Lm : lsitLao MO?($Lao''isaterm foraseniororsteacher''TheFBIbelieves

Lm isrefeningtoMo Hailong)
Y E: No.(Ul1(mumbledanameq,myotherhalf.
LI'
N: MyfnmilyjusthasnocluewhatIam doinghere.MyOldman askedme
whatyou guysaredoing staying in the U.S.forso long? W hatcan Isay?
Can'tsay anything.

YE: Can'tsay anything thatwillm akeyourfam ily worry aboutyou.

LIN : ltight! He also said that,when you arein the U .S.,you can'teven speak
well-

YE : A aughs)
Lm : -forsuch a long time,whatareyou going to do? Yeah, when Ithink
aboutit,whathe said makesense.So ifwe wereto getin trouble, it's
goingtobemuchmorethanjustnotbeingableto cometoU.S.
again...that'sthe leastto worry about. Eitherway. Idon'treally wantto
com e to the U .S.anyw ay.

Right.

Butthat,is trouble.
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YE: So(sighy.Thecompanycan'taffordthelegalcost.
How could they?No,they can'tafford theindemnity,and weindividuals
take huge risks too.See these are private properties,entering w ithout
pennissions is considered a crim inaloffense...

YE : R ight,

Lm : Butthatalso dependson tht consequences.Taking thingsfrom thc

property is theft. W hen the numberofstolen goodsreachesacertain
nm otm t,thisbecom es IP violation.N ow adaysthe U .S.is very hostile to
Chinaon thismatter.lfthistim etheyoptto -

YE : gDeepsigh)
Lm : - ifthey m ax the ptm ishm ent,then we are done.1can'tthink ofthis,
wheneverIthinkaboutthese,Ijustcan'tdoanything.ButImentionedit
toDr.LIthatIdon'tagreeonrunningthisprojectforsuchalongtime.
Thelongerthe time is,them orelikely we getin trouble.

Lm : Exactly!That'sjustsourmecessary!Allwegotthisyeararemaleparents,
why?Themaleparentsaresubspecies(sicl....and Ifigurethatmorethan
halfofthatare duplicates.

Y E: Very likely they areduplicates.

LlN : Thehybridsareprobablyfrom asecondcyclelinewhenwegetback(to

China) too,Ifigure,we'llsee.lfwereallyhaveto,wecancomenextyear
andjustdig! Mypointisthattheoutcomedoesn'tjustifytheeffortwe
putin!W etakesucha hugerisk,forsuch alongtime,justtogetsome
duplicates.From decision-making standpoint,Ithinkit'snotgUIj.Dr.
Ll'spersonality tendsto go extrem e...

Y E: Yeah,apparently.

28. On 9/11/2012,FBI agents in Des M oines,Iowa observed via a stationary pole

camera,three Asian m ales arrive in whatappeared to be a SilverDodge Journey atthe storage

lockernearAdel,Iowa (the samestorage lockerM O wasobserved atin Apriland M ay2012).

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l'hethreemaleswereobsenedloading andunloadingitcm skntothclocker.Duetothequality
ofthevideo andthcangleofthcar(thatdi
d nothaveafrontlicepseplale).theagcntsobserving
the video wcre unableto identify the caroritsoccupants. They spentapproximately twenty
minutesatthclocation.
29. On9/23/2012,thesamcvehicle,believed to beaDodgeJoum ey.possiblywith a
M ichigan Iicense plate,wasobserved viathepolecamera backatthestoragelockernearAdel,
lowa.Duringthisvisit.forappfoxim atelyonehour,twoAsianm atcswereobservtdloadingand
unloadingiemsinto the storage facility. Afterlhissccond visil.FBIpersonnelinOmahaand
Chicagobcganeffortslo idenlif'
ytheoccupantsofthesuspecedDodgeJourney.
0n9/26/2012,FBIsurveillanctirlthe Chicago Divisionobscrved YE and LIina

SilverDodgejourney,withMichiganlicenseplales. TheywereobservcdattheInfiniteSelf-
Sloragefacility inNcw Lenox,Illinois.Surveillanceagentsconducteda walk-byofthestorage
unitandobservcdmanyindividualtarsofcom alongwith packagingmattrials.Itappearedlyoth
YEandLIwereinthelockerpackingmaterials.
n e FBIintcrviewed thc storagc lockermanager. The managerstated thatthe
lockerwasrcnled by Eugent YU on 8/31/2012 mzd hcwasaccompanied bywo Asian males.
The slorage managerstated thalYU wantcd lo rcnthe lockerin thenameofthecompanybut
would notprovide thecompany'
sname. Ullimatel
y YU provided hisown nameand paid cash
forathree-monthrental.
On9/27/2012,thestoragemanagerconfronted YE and L1who w'
ereatthestorage
locker. Accordingto the storagemanagtr.on thepreviousTuesday.heobsen'ed YE ard LIin
thelockerwith hundredsofearsofcornandtoldthem theycouldnotstoreperishablcsandfood
Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 18 of 24
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itemsbecauseitattracted rodents.Them anagertold them they had untilThursday to rem oveall

the com . W hen YE and LIappeared to failto understand English,the m anagercalled YU and

instructed him to remove thecorn by Thursday. W hen them anagerconfronted YE and LI, they

were placing corn into individualbags and thatthey had hundredsofindividualears placed on

shelvesin the lockerthatthey had installed.

33. On 9/28/2012 atapproxim ately 9:00 a.m .,FBIsurveillance observed the storage

managerarriveand imm ediately go to the lockerto inspectit. Shortly laterYE and LIloadedthe

SilverJoum ey fullofmaterialfrom the storage locker and transported itto the farm in M onee

w here FBIsurveillance observed them appearing to unload itatthatlocation.

34. FBIagents received inform ation thatM O would be arriving atO'Hare airporton

theevening of9/28/20I2.FBIagtntsreceivtd courtauthorization to place a listening devictin

M O 'srentalcar,a Ford Escape.

35. On 9/29/2012,FBIsurveillance observed multiple vehiclesatthe farm location in

M onee. In addition to the Dodge Joum ey, a vehicle belonging to YU was present,and a

Chevrolet M alibu with a M ichigan license plate. A check of the plate confinned the car

belonged to Enterprise Rental Car. Entep rise personnel advised the car was rented by an

individualnamed W ang Hongwei(hereafterreferred to as t'HONGW EI''so asnotto confuse

with W ang Lei referenced earlier during the suspicious incidents in the Ioyva Gelds as the

surveillanceattheDesM oinesairportin February2012).HONGW EIentered theUnited States

by a Iand bordercrossing from Canada on 9/28/2012. Laterin the mom ing, M O anived in the

W hite Ford Escape. Surveillance observed atleast5ve individuals,believed by the FBIto be

M O,LI,YE,HONGW EI,and YLJm oving m ultiple boxesbetween the vehicles and the garage

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Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 19 of 24
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ofthe farm , Laterin the ahem oon,a11five ofthe individuals departed to eattogetherata local

restaurant. One unknow n individualin a mini-van remained atthe farm location. Surveillance

persormelwereunableto identifythisindividual.

36. On the evening of 9/29/2012, YE was observed by surveillance retmming the

D odge Journey to the Entep rise rentallocation near O 'Hare aip ort. A fter the carw as returned,

an FBIagent,with the consentofEnterprise persormel, collected refuse leftbehind in the car.

The Enterprise representative found a plastic bag in the rearpassengerdooxthalwasconsidered

to be refuse leftbehind by YE. The plastic bag contained Scotch tape, Verizon W irelessbrand

replacementearcushions,a plutic subway bag with whatappeared to be corn kem els, dirt,and

debrisfrom a corn cob,and one rubberband,anapkin with 9-5 -9-13:213, 9-19 -9-22:106,and

9-14 -9-l8:43 written on it,tags with writing on them , and rubber bands. There were also

severalloose kernels ofcorn leftin the tnm k area ofthe vehicle. Surveillance units observed

YE being picked up by M O at Entep rise. AflerM O , YE,Ll and HONGW EI ate at a local

restaurant,they ehecked in to alocalhotelntartheaip ortfortheevening.

On Sunday morning 9/30/2012, the listening device in M O's Ford escape

recorded M O and others,believed to be LI,YE, and W ANG,discussing how the packageswere

goingto bedivided to earry fortransport.Theindividualsdiscussed Ll'sbag being fullofiyls''

and thatM O would carry some as well. They discussed thatin the pastthey have sentthree

separate packagesby differentm eansand they allgotthrough. M O continued to instructYE on

how importantitwasto thoroughly cleantherentalcarsbefore being retum ed because, i

tgl-le)did
notwant to leave any traceable m arks or clues in the car.'' M O ftm her told Y E thatin the past
,

he(M O),W ANG Lei,and Dr.LIwashedthecartogether.M O addedthathe'scautiousbecause

18
Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 20 of 24
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he's i$ Done ittoo m any times- way too many times.''

38. Surveillanct then observed M O and YE departforthe airportin the W hite Ford

Escape. L1and HONGW EIdepm ed shortly laterin the M alibu rented by HONGW EI. Atthe

aim ort,theU.S.Custom sand BorderPatrolconducted bordercrossing searchesofYE'sand Ll'

s

checked bags. YE and LI were tlying to China, and M O and HONGW EI were on domestic

United States tlights. lnside Ll's two checked bags, USCBP officials located two bulk-sized

m icrowavepopcorn boxes,each appearing to be factory-sealed. Upon opening theboxes,on top

were actualmicrowave packagesofpopcorn. butonce they were m oved, inside each box were

approximately 100 smallm anilaenvelopeswith agenericnum berwritten on each one, e.g.2155,

2403,20362,etc. The generic num berson the envelopesdo notcorrespond to GPS coordinates

nordo they correspond to any legitim ate productID code forPioneer, M onsanto,or other corn

seed manufacturersthatcould be detennined. Youraffiantbelievesthese generic numberswere

utilized to additionally obscure the true owneror identity ofthe productand thatM O and/orhis

co-conspirators are m aintaining a tikey''that identifies what product or location each of the

generic codes correspondsto. In addition to the two popcorn boxes, LIalso had approximately

thirteen brown grocery typebagswith a genericnum berwritten on the outside e.g.6$F1''Each of

,

thesebagscontained additionalenvelopes. Thesethirteen bagswere also in Ll'schecked bags.

39. An outbound inspection of YE's checked luggage revealed that he had

approximately thirty subway napkinswrapped around individualkem elsofcorn secreted in his

clothing within hisbag. Since M O and W ANG were flying dom estically theirluggage wasnot
,

subjectedto aUSCBPsearch.

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Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 21 of 24
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40. U SCBP persorm elcontacted both Y E and LIatthe gate area to inform them ofthe

outbound inspection and to ask them for an explanation. LIspoke very little English and was

tmableto provide any answers. YE,who isreported to speak good English, w as ata nearby gate

area. Airline personnelrepeatedly paged him to which he failed to respond even though he was

sitting in the imm ediate vicinity. USCBP personnelthen approached him and interviewed him .

YE stated he did notknow anyone else in tht localarea and wastraveling by himself. U SCB P

personnellocated additionalnapkins with corn seed in YE'spockets. U SCBP personnelhave

detainedal1ofthe com seed located atO 'Hare in the luggage ofYE and LI, and on theperson of

FBIsurveillance ofHONGW EIobserved him obtain a boarding pass ataUnited

self-check terminal. Airlint personnel confirmed he was scheduled to tly to Burlington,

Vermont. FBIagentsin the Omaha Division coordinated with FBlagents in Burlington, V T to

conductsurveillanceofHONGW EIupon hisarrivaland coordinate with USCBP attheCanadian

borderto conductan outbound inspection ifheattempted to crossinto Canada.

42. FBIsurveillance agents in Burlington located HONG W EI'S caratthe Burlington

airportthathe previously used to cross the border,and established surveillance. Surveillance

personnel stated that when HONGW EI anived at the aim ort term inal, he appeared to be

surveillance conscious. After leaving the aim ortin his car, surveillance agents reported that

HONGW EIengaged in a seriesofdriving m aneuversdeliberately designed to detectand evade

surveillance. Surveillance agents lost contact w ith HO N G W EI when he m ade a quick turn

w ithout a signal into a m allparking lot. The surveillance agentsnotified USCBP persormelat

two nearby bordercrossingsthatcontactwasbroken and to bealertforHONGW EI.

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Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 22 of 24
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43. At approxim ately 7:40 p.m .,USCBP personnelatthe Highgate Springs Portof

Entry observed HON GW EI'S vehicle and directed itfor secondary screening pursuantto their

bordercrossing search authority. A search ofHONGW EI'S carand luggage in the carrevealed

thathe had approxim ately 44 bags hidden underhis seatand in his luggage. Each ofthe bags

(nearly identicalto the brown grocery sacks containtd in Ll's luggage atthe aimort)had a
generic num ber written on it,such as M 3, F3,Z3,etc. lnside each bag were approximately

twenty m anila envelopeswith varying mnountofcorn kernelsin each envelope. The envelopes

were num bered in a sim ilarm annerto the envelopes obtained atO 'Hare airport, Also located

during the outbound inspection was a notebook containing num erous GPS coordinates alo
ng
with handwritten notes nextto each setofcoordinates in Chinese M andarin. H ON G W EI also

had adigitalcameracontaining hundredsofpictlzresofvariouscorn fieldsand whatappearto be

production facilitiesforcorn seed manufacturerssuch asM onsanto and PioneerHi- Bred. During

an interview ofHON GW EI,he stated he had been visiting in Burlington forseveraldays. W hen

he was confronted with a boarding pass forhis tlightto Chicago, HONGW EIadm itted he had

traveled to Chicago. W hen asked why he had the corn hidden, he explained he knew he could

not legally take the corn in to Canada. HONGW EI staled he purchased the corn from an

individual in Chicago named M o Hailong. Aher completing the search and interview of

HONGW EI,he was released and a11hisproperty wasreturned with the exception ofthekernels

ofcorn.

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Case 9:13-mj-08515-DLB Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 12/11/2013 Page 23 of 24
Q
44. The FBIobtained search warrants issued by the Northem DistrictofIllinois
and
the District of Vennont for these packages of seeds detained from LI YE, and W ANG.A
,

representative sample ofthis seed thatwas seized atthe O'Hare airportand Canadian border,

along with a snmple oftheseed seized from the FedEx shipmentin M ay 2012 was subm itted to
,

an independentbio-diagnostic testing laboratory, Seven differentsamples were submitted that

were seized from YE,three from HON GW EI, and one from Ll. Ofthe seven submitted forYE
,

three sam pleswere confirmed to likely bean inbred line ofseed with the otherfoura seed mix.

One sample was an inbred line and two a hybrid line forthe three subm itted forHONGW EI.

Thesam ple subm itted thatwasseized from LIwasconfinned to likely be an inbred line, Allof

the thirteen sam ples subm itted from the FedEx seizure were confirm ed to likely constitute a

hybrid line of seed. Lab testing is unable to identify the manufacturer of any of the seed

sam ples.

45. Court-authorized GPS tracking showed YE and Lm m aking multiple stops in

ntralareas during the same time period ofthe court-authorized audio surveillance oftheircar.

The FBlconfirmed thatmany ofthestopsmade by YE and Lm were adjacentto growerand

research fields forseveralU.S.based seed manufacm rers. The FBI,through interviewsoffield

owners,confirmed grower fields and research fieldsbelonging to PioneerHi-Bred, M onsanto,

andLG Seedswereimmediatelyadjacentto locationswhereYE and Lm stopped Youraftlant.

believesbased on thisinform ation, many oftheseedsseized atO 'Hare aim ortand the Canadian

borderon 9/30/2012 are seedsstolen from thefieldsoftheseU S.based seed producers.

.

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

CONCLUSION

46. Based on tht foregoing,your affiantbelieves there is probable cause to believe

thatviolationsof1832(theftofintellectualproperty)haveorareoccuning.
W HEREFORE, your Affiant respectively requests lhat the Court issue a Com plaint

againstthe above-nam ed individuals.

Respectfully subm itted,

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M ark E.Betten
SpecialAgent,FederalBureau ofInvestigation

subscribedandsworntometh j-fhday December,2013.

'

os .w A Rs
ITED STA TES M AG ISTR ATE JUD G E

23