MOSCOW, June 16 (RAPSI) – A lawsuit filed by former Goldman Sachs programmer Sergey Aleynikov over the actions of FBI agents during the proceedings against him in a criminal case related to alleged theft of computer code has been narrowed by a judge in the U.S., Reuters reported on Thursday.
Aleynikov was convicted of computer code theft twice, but all accusations were lifted.
He claims that FBI should have known about problems with the case, according to Reuters.
The judge in the case narrowed the lawsuit, claiming that FBI was in right during first arrest of Aleynikov and that it’s yet unconfirmed if FBI violated his rights during the second arrest.
Goldman Sachs is among the most prominent investment banking firms on Wall Street. While working for the firm, Aleynikov was responsible for the development and maintenance of a complex computer program that facilitated its high-traffic global trading system. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. described the code as, “so highly confidential that it is known in the industry as the firm’s ‘secret sauce… Employees who exploit their access to sensitive information should expect to face criminal prosecution in New York State in appropriate cases.”
Prosecutors claim that in 2009, Aleynikov resigned from Goldman Sachs in order to accept a job at Chicago-based trading firm Teza, where he would be responsible for the creation of another high-traffic trading computer program built to compete with that of Goldman Sachs. Aleynikov allegedly copied hundreds of thousands of lines of source code from the Goldman Sachs program on his last day with the firm.
In August 2012, New York City prosecutors announced that Aleynikov had been charged with the unlawful use of secret scientific material and the duplication of computer related material, both Class E felonies, in connection with his alleged theft of the investment firm’s sensitive source code.
Aleynikhov was convicted and sentenced in a federal case stemming from the same facts in 2011, but his conviction was overturned on appeal.
In May 2015 jury convicted Aleynikov, but the verdict was overturned by a trial judge two months later. Latter ruling is currently being appealed.