Sinovel fined in US theft case

BEIJING: A U.S. judge on Friday ordered Chinese wind turbine maker Sinovel Wind Group Co Ltd to pay a $1.5 million fine after the company was convicted of charges that it stole trade secrets from Massachusetts-based AMSC .

U.S. District Judge James Peterson in Madison, Wisconsin, also sentenced Sinovel to one year of probation, during which it must pay the unpaid balance of a $57.5 million settlement it struck with AMSC that was disclosed on Tuesday.

The U.S. Justice Department said Sinovel has already paid AMSC, formerly known as American Superconductor Inc, $32.5 million and will have to pay $850,000 to additional victims during the probation period.

The sentence came after a federal jury in January found Beijing-based Sinovel guilty on conspiracy, trade-secret theft and wire fraud charges. A lawyer for Sinovel did not respond to a request for comment.

The Justice Department announced charges against Sinovel in 2013 amid heightened concern about Chinese theft of U.S. trade secrets and a legal battle in the Chinese courts pitting AMSC against Sinovel, one of the world’s largest turbine makers. The case centered on technology that AMSC developed to regulate the flow of electricity from wind turbines to electrical grids that Sinovel purchased for its products.

Prosecutors said that as of March 2011, Sinovel owed AMSC $100 million for products that had been delivered and had contracts to buy more than $700 million in future products.