A Chinese telecommunications company has been fined $50 million as part of a decade-long legal case involving the theft of radio technology secrets from Motorola.
The fine was imposed by a federal judge in Chicago against Hytera Communications Corp., one of China’s five major telecommunications companies that U.S. intelligence has linked to Beijing’s military and intelligence services, according to an announcement Monday by Andrew S. Boutros, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, FBI special agent-in charge of the Chicago field office.
The Justice Department said in a statement that Hytera obtained Motorola’s proprietary and trade secrets beginning in 2006 by hiring several Motorola engineers.
The stolen data included secrets for Motorola’s digital mobile radio technology that was developed by the company through years of research and design.
“The engineers used the stolen information, including source code, to develop products for Hytera — at a fraction of the cost that it took Motorola to develop the exclusive technology — and competed with Motorola in the digital radio market through 2020,” the statement said.
Hytera pleaded guilty in 2025 to a charge of conspiracy to steal trade secrets.
In addition to the $50 million fine, Hytera was sentenced to five years of probation that includes setting up a compliance and annual reporting program to the U.S. government.
A court document in the case stated that Hytera stole Motorola trade secrets related to a two-way digital radio technology called MotoTRBO from downloaded files taken by former Motorola employees later hired by Hytera.
“In 2008, unbeknownst to Motorola at the time due to their surreptitious activities and misrepresentations, just weeks before leaving Motorola, the Hytera Employees downloaded over 7,000 technical, marketing, sales, and legal documents, related to at least Motorola’s MotoTRBO proprietary technology,” the document stated.
Last week, U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr. in the Northern District of Illinois order Hytera to pay restitution of around $214 million that was offset by previous payments made by Hytera under a civil judgment.
Seven employees of Hytera were indicted in 2021 in Chicago for their alleged roles in the trade secrets theft. One Hytera official, Gee Siong Kok, pleaded guilty in 2022 and agreed to cooperate with investigators.
The remain six Hytera officials remain at large and are being sought by prosecutors.
The lawsuit between Motorola and Hytera dates to 2017, and in 2020 a U.S. jury awarded Motorola $764.6 million in damages related to trade secrets theft and copyright infringements. It was among the largest intellectual property theft awards.
The fine comes amid reports by the U.S. government and private cyber security companies linking Chinese state-sponsored hackers known as Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon to penetrations of critical infrastructure and companies.
The FBI and National Security Agency have stated that Chinese Volt Typhoon hackers planted malware in critical infrastructure since at least 2021. The penetrations included accessing communications, energy, transportation and water systems.
The bureau and agency have said Salt Typhoon involved Chinese hacks against nine major U.S. telecommunications companies and that they were able to obtain sensitive law enforcement and intelligence information.
During the first Trump administration, President Trump signed into law a ban on U.S. government agencies and contractors using or purchasing telecommunications or video surveillance gear or services from Hytera, along with equipment from Huawei, Hikvision, Dahua Technologies, ZTE, or other companies controlled by the Chinese government.
In 2017, U.S. intelligence agencies raised security concerns over China’s continued efforts to electronically infiltrate American military systems through Hytera, The Washington Times reported at the time.
Defense officials revealed Hytera’s purchase of the Canadian satellite communications firm Norsat could compromise Pentagon communications through Norsat’s Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System, a mobile satellite system known as DVIDS Direct, which is used by public affairs units to transmit video and photos.
Hytera is a Shenzhen, China-based mobile radio communications company that has worked closely with China’s police and security services. Those connections are the ones raising fears of electronic infiltration.
An unclassified U.S. intelligence report from 2016 identified a Hytera official at a meeting of Cuban officials and officials of the Chinese Cyberspace Administration discussing high-technology communications gear for intelligence, counterintelligence and military applications.
U.S. intelligence agencies have identified Hytera radios used by Islamic terrorist groups in Libya and Syria in the 2010s.
Spokesmen for Hytera, Motorola and the U.S. attorney in Chicago did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
