Google Trade Secrets Theft Case: 3 Engineers Arrested

Federal prosecutors have arrested three Silicon Valley engineers accused of stealing sensitive chip-security trade secrets from Google and two other tech companies—and routing that information to unauthorized locations, including Iran, in a case the Justice Department says raises national security concerns.

A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California indicted Samaneh Ghandali, Soroor Ghandali, and Mohammadjavad Khosravi. The indictment was filed on February 18, 2026, and unsealed on February 19, 2026, in San Jose, according to the Department of Justice.

According to the DOJ, Samaneh Ghandali allegedly used her access at Google to “transfer hundreds of files, including Google trade secrets, to a third-party communications platform,” sending them into channels labeled with each defendant’s first name. Prosecutors say the defendants also used roles at two additional employers—identified in the charging documents as Company 2 and Company 3—to obtain or move confidential material tied to mobile computer processors.

Investigators allege the stolen information included trade secrets related to processor security and cryptography. The DOJ says Google materials were later copied to personal devices and to work devices associated with Company 2 and Company 3.

Prosecutors also claim the defendants tried to cover their tracks by deleting files, destroying electronic records, and submitting false affidavits to the victim companies denying they had shared sensitive information outside the workplace.

One incident described by the DOJ allegedly occurred in December 2023, when Samaneh Ghandali is accused of photographing roughly two dozen images of Khosravi’s Company 2 work computer screen showing trade secret information the night before traveling to Iran. While she was in Iran, a device associated with her allegedly accessed those photographs, and prosecutors say Khosravi accessed additional trade secret material.

The DOJ says Google’s internal security systems detected suspicious activity in August 2023 and revoked Samaneh Ghandali’s access. The indictment alleges she later signed an affidavit stating she had not shared Google’s confidential information outside the company.

All three defendants are charged with conspiracy and theft of trade secrets, along with obstruction of justice. The DOJ notes the trade-secret charges carry a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison per count, while the obstruction count carries a maximum of 20 years.

Risks and security implications

Security and policy observers say the case highlights a persistent vulnerability in advanced hardware and cryptography development: insiders with legitimate access can exfiltrate highly sensitive intellectual property over time, often without needing sophisticated “hacking” techniques.

If sensitive processor and cryptographic IP ends up in unauthorized jurisdictions, the downstream impact can extend beyond corporate loss—potentially shaping export-control scrutiny, compliance expectations, and internal security requirements for firms working on cutting-edge chip and security technologies. At the same time, critics of checkbox compliance argue that frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO certifications may measure audit readiness more than real-world resilience against determined insider threats.