U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg, joined by FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena, announced that a federal indictment was unsealed today charging Saline resident Michael Hummel, 35, with wire fraud and theft of trade secrets from his former employer, Quicken Loans Inc.
The indictment alleges that Hummel was employed at Quicken as a Senior Web Developer and Senior Software Engineer from February 2005 to November 2006, working on the Web Interaction Team at Quicken’s Livonia offices or from his residence. The indictment further alleges that Hummel stole a Quicken proprietary project, and used the stolen Quicken trade secrets and intellectual property in his consulting work for another company while still employed by Quicken.
Berg said, "Protecting the competitive edge technology of our companies through vigorous enforcement of our federal trade secret laws is a top priority of this office. Both employees and employers should be aware that stealing proprietary trade secrets to gain an economic advantage is a serious federal offense that will be prosecuted aggressively."
Arena stated, “Southeastern Michigan is an area of innovation and protecting proprietary information priority for the FBI. The United States government put a priority on protecting intellectual property and the FBI will continue to aggressively pursue allegations involving the theft of trade secrets.”
Conviction on the charge of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets carries a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. The count charging wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of twenty years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
Source: FBI Detroit Field Office
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