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Bail hearing next week for ex-Hydro-Québec employee charged with spying for China

Nov 18, 2022 | 11:01 AM

LONGUEUIL, Que. — A former Hydro-Québec employee charged with economic espionage for the benefit of China will have a bail hearing next week.

Yuesheng Wang, 35, was arrested Monday by the RCMP and made a first appearance in court on Tuesday, where the Crown opposed his release.

The resident of Candiac, Que., is the first person to be charged with economic espionage under Canada’s Security of Information Act, and he also faces three charges under the Criminal Code for fraudulent use of a computer, fraudulently obtaining a trade secret and breach of trust.

The RCMP allege that Wang conducted research for Chinese research centres and a Chinese university and that he published scientific articles and filed patents with them rather than with the Quebec utility.

Police also allege he used information without his employer’s consent, harming Hydro-Québec’s intellectual property.

Lawyers appeared virtually today in a Longueuil, Que., courtroom, to determine a bail hearing will be held next Wednesday and Thursday, with the help of a Mandarin translator.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2022.

The Canadian Press

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