Intel Engineer Flip-Flops to AMD, Company Secrets Stolen?

An ex-Intel employee is currently being investigated by the FBI for allegedly attempting to provide confidential company secrets to market competitor, AMD.

Biswahoman Pani, a former engineer at Intel’s Hudson facility, is learning a rather simple lesson the hard way – it is not the best idea to start secretly working for AMD while still an Intel employee. Worse yet, it probably is a really bad idea to have over a hundred pages of sensitive Intel documents, top secret design plans and CAD drawings belonging to Intel laying around your home when starting that new job at AMD. Pani has been recently charged with allegedly stealing company trade secrets after an FBI investigation into the matter back in July 2008,

According to The Boston Globe, the story began when Biswahoman Pani told his Intel supervisors he missed his wife, Vandana Padhi, who was also an Intel employee, but who had been stationed at a facility out in California. Near the end of May, Intel approved the request to transfer his wife to the Hudson facility, however the response from Pani was probably not what Intel expected.

Only hours after, Pani handed in his resignation to Intel claiming he now wanted a job with a hedge fund and then left on vacation leave, waiting for his employment at Intel to end on June 11. When it was later discovered by another Intel employee that Pani had begun working for AMD, the FBI were called in to investigate. Apparently Pani began working for AMD on June 2, only days after his resignation from Intel.

An investigation of Pani’s house on July 1 unturned secret documents belonging to Intel of future design plans for upcoming Intel processors, although Pani claimed they were kept for reasons of curiosity and to help aid his wife with her job at the new facility. Pani is no longer working for AMD and despite having his passport seized, he is not under custody.

The FBI states there is no evidence that AMD was involved in Pani’s alleged actions and there is no evidence that AMD gained possession of any sensitive Intel documents. AMD and Intel are both fully cooperating with the investigation.