Edward Y. Kim, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's New York Field Office, announced the unsealing of an indictment against Cheuk Fung Richard Ho. Ho is charged with theft and attempted theft of trade secrets from his former employer, a global quantitative trading firm referred to as "Firm-1." The arrest took place in Los Angeles, California.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Kim: "As alleged, Cheuk Fung Richard Ho abused the trust his former employer placed in him and stole trade secrets to use at his own quantitative trading firm. Ho allegedly tried to cover his tracks by lying to his former employer repeatedly and asking his employees to delete evidence. Thanks to the FBI, Ho is now in custody."
FBI Assistant Director James E. Dennehy stated: "Cheuk Fung Richard Ho allegedly stole and unlawfully shared private proprietary information to clandestinely develop his own firm in collaboration with his employer’s competitors. The defendant allegedly abused his trusted position by breaching company confidentiality agreements to the detriment of his former firm."
The indictment alleges that between July 2019 and August 2021, Ho worked as a research developer and quantitative trader at Firm-1. During this time, he had access to Firm-1's proprietary source code which was crucial for its success in trading equities and other securities globally.
In spring 2021, while still employed at Firm-1, Ho reportedly started another trading firm ("Firm-2") which partnered with one of Firm-1's competitors ("Firm-3"). He is accused of stealing valuable trade secrets from Firm-1 for developing Firm-2's source code.
Ho allegedly lied about his post-employment plans when questioned by Firm-1 and directed employees at Firm-2 to delete internal communications related to their source code history—a directive they did not follow.
Ho faces one count of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years if convicted. The case is being managed by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rushmi Bhaskaran and Ni Qian leading the prosecution.
The charges are currently allegations; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.