American Superconductor and Its Rogue Employee Both Duped by Sinovel

[bananas]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joanlappin/2011/09/27/american-superconductor-and-its-rogue-employee-both-duped-by-sinovel/

Joan Lappin, Contributor
9/27/2011 @ 5:38PM |5,670 views

American Superconductor and Its Rogue Employee Both Duped by Sinovel
Each took promises for future payments and never saw the cash

An Austrian court has convicted American Superconductor’s rogue employee, Dejan Karabasevic, and already sentenced him to a year in jail and two years of probation. He sold trade secrets to Chinese wind turbine maker Sinovel. American Superconductor is now able to reveal some of what happened to so damage the company and its stock. The story is shocking in its simplicity.

The Croatian former employee was disgruntled after being demoted from the design team to marketing efforts. He was part of a small cadre of trusted employees who had access to the software code. He was identified rapidly because he was part of an even smaller group that was in China working with Sinovel.

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It appears Karabesevic folded his cards rapidly once confronted. As reported, his deal with Sinovel to transfer the trade secrets included a 5 year employment contract for $1 million, not the tiny payment of 15,000 Euros first reported (just $20,000). Perhaps for that larger amount, it was worth the risk of discovery. Just as Sinovel has refused to pay American Superconductor for services rendered, it also paid the “perp” only a tiny sum of what he was promised to get him to spill the beans and hand over the code. There surely is a pattern here.

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In addition to public statements by Senator John Kerry( D-MA) , other U.S. Governmental Agencies are also lobbying on behalf of American Superconductor including the U.S. State Dept., the U.S. Commerce Dept., and the Federal Trade Commission. Unfortunately, it appears that Sinovel has no appreciable assets in the United States so whatever legal remedies might eventually be forthcoming must emanate from the Chinese judicial system.

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