Trade Secrets to Foreign Government
On Dec. 19, 2011, Elliot Doxer, of Brookline, Mass., was sentenced in the District of Massachusetts to 6 months in prison and 2 years supervised release. Previously, on Aug. 30, 2011, Doxer pleaded guilty to one count of foreign economic espionage for providing trade secrets over an 18-month period to an undercover FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer. Neither the government of Israel nor anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under U.S. laws in this case. Doxer was a former employee of Akamai Technologies, Inc., who in Jun. 2006 sent an e-mail to the Israeli consulate in Boston stating that he worked in Akamai’s finance department and was willing to provide information that might help Israel. In Sep. 2007, an undercover FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer spoke to Doxer and established a “dead drop” where the agent and Doxer could exchange information. From Sep. 2007 through Mar. 2009, Doxer visited the dead drop at least 62 times to leave information, retrieve communications or check for new communications. Doxer provided the undercover agent with Akamai customer lists, employee lists, contract information and other trade secrets. He was arrested on Oct. 6, 2010 on a complaint charging him with wire fraud. That charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement. The case was investigated by the FBI.