3 Silicon Valley Engineers Arrested for Allegedly Stealing Trade Secrets

The trio is accused of transferring confidential documents related to processor security and cryptography to a platform outside the US.

Published on Mar. 1, 2026

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Three engineers from Silicon Valley have been arrested and charged with stealing trade secrets from companies like Google and Qualcomm, and transferring the data to a platform based outside the US. The suspects, Samaneh Ghandali, her husband Mohammad Khosravi, and her sister Soroor Ghandali, previously worked at leading tech firms in the area of mobile computer processors.

Why it matters

This case highlights the ongoing threat of corporate espionage and the theft of sensitive intellectual property, especially from major tech companies in Silicon Valley. The alleged transfer of trade secrets to a foreign platform raises national security concerns and the potential for the misuse of advanced technologies.

The details

According to the Justice Department, the trio transferred "confidential and sensitive documents, including trade secrets related to processor security and cryptography and other technologies" to a third-party communication platform based outside the US. The stolen trade secrets allegedly include details about Google's Tensor processors used in Pixel smartphones, as well as technical information about Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors.

  • In June 2022, Google detected Soroor Ghandali downloading "internal Google files to a personal USB drive".
  • Google revoked Samaneh Ghandali's access in August 2023 and fired her about a month later.
  • In December 2023, the suspects traveled to Iran after manually photographing company trade secrets stored on their personal devices.

The players

Samaneh Ghandali

A 41-year-old engineer who previously worked at Google and became a US citizen in 2018.

Mohammad Khosravi

Samaneh Ghandali's 40-year-old husband who worked at Qualcomm and became a US legal permanent resident around 2019.

Soroor Ghandali

Samaneh Ghandali's 32-year-old sister who previously worked at Google and arrived in the US on a non-immigrant student visa.

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What’s next

The suspects face the prospect of decades in prison if convicted on all charges. The Justice Department noted the maximum sentence is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, and the maximum sentence for obstruction of justice is 20 years in prison.

The takeaway

This case highlights the ongoing threat of corporate espionage and the theft of sensitive intellectual property from major tech companies in Silicon Valley. It underscores the importance of robust security measures and vigilance in protecting trade secrets, especially when employees have access to critical technologies.