Former AMSC worker pleads guilty in espionage case
The engineer and former American Superconductor Corp. employee who is at the center of AMSC’s claims of corporate espionage by Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd. has pleaded guilty on charges of passing AMSC secrets to the Chinese company.
Dejan Karabasevic, 38, was sentenced to one year in jail and two years probation. Formerly employed by AMSC’s Austrian subsidiary, Karabasevic also was ordered by the court in Klagenfurt, Austria, to pay roughly $270,000 in damages to AMSC.
In legal filings in China, Devens-based AMSC has charged Sinovel with corporate espionage and failure to pay for contracted product sales. The espionage charges focus on technology to upgrade Sinovel’s 1.5 megawatt wind turbines. Sinovel has denied the charges.
Jason Fredette, vice president of marketing and communications for AMSC, said, “This sentence was an important first legal step for AMSC. This individual’s admittance of guilt and collusion with Sinovel demonstrates the strength of our commercial, civil and criminal cases against Sinovel in China. The convict has provided evidence for our legal suits against Sinovel, which provides us with confidence that we be able to recover damages.”
Last week, AMSC reported large losses in its financial reports for fiscal 2010 and the first quarter of fiscal 2011, while also reporting $100 million in new contracts in the past six months.