A legal and security drama is unfolding in Silicon Valley after a federal grand jury indicted three engineers from San Jose on suspicion of stealing sensitive trade secrets from Google and other leading semiconductor firms.
According to the indictment, the information was transferred to unauthorized destinations, including a direct transfer to Iran, as part of an alleged conspiracy to remove confidential material from the companies.
At the center of the case are Samaneh Ghandali, 41, her husband Mohammad Javad Khosravi, 40, and her sister Sorour Ghandali, 32. All three held senior engineering roles in the field of mobile computing processors. The two sisters previously worked at Google before moving to another technology firm, while Khosravi was employed at a third company within the production chain.
The indictment alleges that the suspects exploited their authorized access to obtain sensitive documents related to processor security and cryptography. The materials were allegedly transferred through private communication channels, to the defendants’ personal devices, and to work computers at competing companies. At a later stage, the information was allegedly accessed while the defendants were in Iran.
The case reportedly came to light after Google’s internal security systems identified suspicious activity by Samaneh Ghandali in August 2023, leading to the revocation of her access to company resources. Prosecutors allege that instead of ceasing their activities, the three submitted false affidavits denying the sharing of confidential information while simultaneously deleting records from their devices.
In an effort to bypass digital monitoring mechanisms, the indictment states that the suspects resorted to manually photographing hundreds of computer screens using personal cellphones. On the night before Samaneh Ghandali and Khosravi traveled to Iran in December 2023, dozens of images were allegedly taken from Khosravi’s work computer. Subsequent access to the images and sensitive material was identified during their stay in Iran.
The three were arrested and appeared before a federal court in San Jose. They face charges of theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice. If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison for each count of trade secret theft and up to 20 years for obstruction.
The federal prosecutor emphasized that the Justice Department will continue to protect American innovation and pursue those who attempt to transfer advanced technologies to countries seeking to harm the US.