Woman held in France over industrial espionage
Woman held in France over industrial espionage
A woman had been detained in France over claims she wasinvolved in industrial espionage during an internship with car
equipment manufacturer Valeo.
The woman has denied charges of "intrusion in an automatic data
system" and "abuse of confidence" after allegedly copying features of
a number of cars that are still on the drawing board.
Police alleged that during a search of her home officers found six
computers and two hard drives with a "huge capacity" and containing
material considered confidential by the Valeo directors.
The young woman, who has a number of degrees including mathematics,
applied physics and fluid mechanics, had been an intern since February
at the Valeo offices in Guyancourt, a suburb of Paris.
An executive apparently noticed her frequently walking around the
office carrying her portable computer.
A source close to the inquiry described the woman, who speaks German,
Spanish, English, French and some Arabic, as "brilliant" and of
"exceptional competence".
