Three former engineers face federal charges for stealing confidential Google data and sending it to Iran

A federal grand jury indicted three former engineers Thursday for allegedly stealing proprietary information from both Google and other technology companies and transmitting it to Iran. The defendants were sisters Samaneh Ghandali and Soroor Ghandali, along with Mohammadjavad Khosravi, who, according to the U.S. attorney's office, were charged in the Northern District of California. Prosecutors allege that, while working at Google, the Ghandali sisters transferred hundreds of internal documents to an external communications platform. Among the documents were sensitive materials related to processor security and cryptography.

Authorities said in a press release that the files were subsequently copied to both their personal devices and to Khosravi's work computer at another company and to Soroor Ghandali's work device at a different employer where both sisters later worked. Court documents detailed that in August 2023, after Google detected suspicious activity and limited Samaneh Ghandali's access to systems, she signed an affidavit stating she had not shared confidential information outside the company.

Trip to Iran in December 2023

Investigators allege that after that event, Samaneh Ghandali and Khosravi began looking for different ways to delete digital communications and records and even photographed computer screens showing proprietary data from Google and Khosravi's employer. As reported by prosecutors, the two then traveled to Iran in December 2023, where they accessed the photographed images and additional confidential information linked to Khosravi's place of employment.

"The alleged actions described in this indictment reflect a calculated betrayal of trust by individuals accused of stealing trade secrets from the very technology companies that employed them. According to the indictments, the method by which the defendants transferred the confidential data involved deliberate steps to evade detection and conceal their identities. Protecting the innovation of Silicon Valley and defending the revolutionary technologies that drive our economy and national security is a top priority for the FBI," FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani said in a statement.