Detroit— The
FBI searched Ford Motor Co.’s world headquarters while investigating one
of the automaker’s engineers and seized listening devices, computers
and financial records, according to search warrants obtained by The News
on Thursday.
A lawyer for the mechanical
engineer said Ford’s security team feared she was stealing trade secrets
by hiding secret recording devices in conference rooms at the Dearborn
automaker’s headquarters, nicknamed the Glass House.
Court
records that would explain why the FBI had probable cause to search Ford
and the engineer’s home are sealed in federal court. The government’s
lawyer on the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel, heads the
National Security Unit in Detroit, successfully prosecuted underwear
bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and specializes in cases involving espionage, counter-terrorism and terrorism financing, among others.
Searching
a Fortune 500 company’s world headquarters instead of issuing a
subpoena is a rare step and could indicate investigators were worried
about someone destroying evidence, said Peter Henning, a law professor
at Wayne State University and a former federal prosecutor.
“If
it’s an economic espionage case or trade secrets case, that rarely
involves one individual,” Henning said. “So the concern is if you send a
subpoena and ask for recording devices, those things can be erased.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI declined comment Thursday.
Comments