Federal Prosecutors Warn of National Security Threat as Sensitive US Chip Data Allegedly Routed Abroad.
A high-stakes legal and national security case is unfolding in Silicon Valley after a federal grand jury indicted three San Jose engineers accused of stealing sensitive semiconductor trade secrets from Google and other leading firms, with prosecutors alleging that some of the data was ultimately accessed from Iran.
The defendants — Samaneh Ghandali, 41, her husband Mohammad Javad Khosravi, 40, and her sister Sorour Ghandali, 32 — held senior engineering roles tied to mobile computing processors. According to the indictment, the trio allegedly exploited authorized access to obtain confidential documents involving processor security architecture and cryptographic systems, critical components in modern computing infrastructure.
Prosecutors claim the materials were transferred through private communication channels, copied to personal devices, and later accessed on systems outside authorized company networks. At a later stage, investigators allege, the sensitive data was accessed while the defendants were physically present in Iran.
The case reportedly began in August 2023, when Google’s internal security systems detected suspicious activity linked to Samaneh Ghandali. Her access credentials were revoked. Authorities allege that instead of stopping, the defendants submitted false sworn statements denying any improper sharing of proprietary material while simultaneously deleting digital records.
In an effort to bypass corporate monitoring systems, prosecutors state the group allegedly photographed hundreds of confidential computer screens using personal cellphones. On the night before Samaneh Ghandali and Khosravi traveled to Iran in December 2023, dozens of images were allegedly captured from a company workstation. Forensic analysis later identified access to the images and related files during their stay abroad.
The three defendants 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, each count of trade secret theft carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison, while obstruction charges could result in up to 20 years.
Federal prosecutors stressed that safeguarding advanced semiconductor and cryptographic technologies is a matter of national security. The Justice Department signaled that it will aggressively pursue cases involving the unauthorized transfer of sensitive American innovation to foreign destinations deemed strategic competitors.
