A federal grand jury charged a former engineer at Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) with stealing the specs for a trio of balloon catheters and planning to use them to start up a new company in Vietnam.
Aaron Quoc Khieu worked for Boston Scientific at its Maple Grove, Minn., facility as an engineer working on new catheter products, according to court documents. Khieu allegedly stole more than 100 documents covering the specs for Boston Scientific’s Sapphire and Mustang catheters, plus the documentation covering an as-yet unreleased product, according to the indictment. The name of the 3rd catheter is still under seal, according to the documents.
The grand jury accused Khieu of planning to use the stolen trade secrets he transferred to a thumb drive to start a new medical device company in Vietnam called Snowflake Medical, which would sell a catheter copied from the Boston Scientific devices called the Snowcat.
Khieu allegedly went so far as to meet with potential investors in 2012 in Minnetonka, Minn., telling them of a recent trip to Vietnam where he met with physicians and hospital administrators, according to court records.
Khieu pleaded not guilty and asked the court to delay the jury trial, slated for Dec. 9, until April 13, saying a continuance "is necessitated by the scope and complexity of the charges and discovery in the present case," according to the documents. An expert witness estimated it would take 3 months to review the discovery materials, Khieu said in a court filing.
"The charges cover a long period of time when I was employed at Boston Scientific. I understand from my attorney there are a large amount of documents in my case as part of discovery, as well as significant technical documents, most of which are covered by a protective order. My lawyer has not yet reviewed all of the discovery in my case, and his review is ongoing. I understand that it will take significant time to carefully review each document, and these allegations may require the services of a scientific expert, which will also take time," Khieu said in another filing yesterday.
Federal prosecutors asked the court to schedule the trial for April 7, 2015, according to the documents.