By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890 News
(CHICAGO) — A 30-year employee of a McHenry County manufacturing firm stole proprietary information from the company while planning to move to China to begin work for a rival firm, according to an indictment returned in federal court in Chicago.
On Sept. 13, 2015, Robert O’Rourke allegedly downloaded electronic data belonging to his employer, a Woodstock-based manufacturer of cast-iron products. Prosecutors say at the time, O’Rourke had already accepted a new job with a rival firm in Jiangsu, China. Two days later he officially resigned from the Woodstock company. The indictment says that the following week O’Rourke packed up the proprietary information and went to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to board a flight to China. Federal authorities intervened and seized the stolen electronic data, along with stolen paper documents, before O’Rourke traveled to China to begin work for the new firm.
The 13-count indictment charges O’Rourke, 57, of Lake Geneva, Wisc., with theft of trade secrets. Arraignment is set for July 25, 2017.
According to the charges, O’Rourke worked for the Woodstock company since 1984, holding the positions of plant metallurgist, quality assurance manager and salesperson. He also helped the company develop international business in, among other places, China. In December 2013, O’Rourke allegedly began discussions with a Chinese firm to take a similar job there. After several months of discussions and negotiations, O’Rourke accepted the position of Vice President at the Chinese company, the indictment states.
The indictment does not identify the name of the Woodstock company or the Chinese firm.
Copyright 2017 WLS-AM News
