Six men from China including the CEO of a seed corn subsidiary have been charged with conspiracy to steal patented seed corn from Monsanto and Pioneer Hybrid. The charges are the culmination of a 2 ½ year investigation after the men were found in a test seed field for Monsanto. One of the men, Mo Hailong was arrested in Miami charged with conspiracy to steal trade secrets. The other five men are being sought by authorities. One of the men being sought is the CEO of Kings Nower Seed – a subsidiary of Beijing-based DBN Group. Court documents state that the men were observed taking corn from test field containing highly valuable seed owned by Pioneer Hybrid and Monsanto, then hiding it in a storage facility, and then taking it to a farm in Monee, IL owned by Kings Nower Seed. On September 30, 2012 seeds were found in the luggage and pockets of two men as they were searched before flying out of Chicago to China. A third man was stopped at the Canadian border with 44 bags of seed hidden under his car seat. The loss to a U.S. seed corn manufacturer of a patented seed line is a minimum 5-8 years of work and US$30 – $40 million.
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