TRENTON — A 37-year-old Edison man may face up to five years in prison and fines after he allegedly accessed his former company’s email server for 14 months without authorization, according to Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick.
Jian Yang Zhang, or Kevin Zhang, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni in Trenton federal court on Sept. 28 on charges of one count of unauthorized access of a protected computer and one count of interception of electronic communications.
Zhang and his family were part owners of a New Jersey-based company (Company 1) that imported and supplied products to dollar stores, discount stores, and wholesalers across the United States, according to documents filed in this case and statements made in court.
After a dispute among the owners in 2015, Zhang and his family agreed to sell their interest in Company 1 to the other owners.
While negotiating the buyout, Zhang, who served as the email administrator for the company, created a hidden sub-user account within the Company 1 email server account.
When Zhang left the company in February 2015, he provided the login credentials for the email server to the remaining owners, who then changed the password. However, Zhang did not disclose that he had created the hidden sub-user account.
On numerous occasions over the next 14 months, Zhang accessed the Company 1 email server without authorization and set various employee email accounts to forward to outside email accounts that he controlled.
Both charges carry a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher, Newark Division, with the investigation leading the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah M. Wolfe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton represented the government in the case.
Attorney Scott Brettschneider, Uniondale, New York, represented Zhang.
