SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) - One of three Silicon Valley engineers with ties to Iran and accused of stealing trade secrets from Google and another tech company pleaded not guilty in federal court Monday.
Mohammadjavad Khosravi, 40, Samaneh Ghandali, 41, and Soroor Ghandali, 32, appeared in civilian clothes and were released on bond after a federal grand jury indicted them Feb. 18. They had been on house arrest until Monday's arraignment for Khosravi.
Last month, prosecutors charged the three with conspiracy to commit trade secret theft from Google, theft and attempted theft of trade secrets and obstruction of official proceedings, all felonies.
The other technology company involved in the case was not formally disclosed in the indictment and was referred to as "Company 2."
The maximum penalties for the charges include 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the conspiracy to commit trade secrets and theft and attempted theft counts, and 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for obstruction of official proceedings.
Khosravi answered "yes" when U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Van Keulen asked whether he understood the charges, but otherwise remained silent.
Van Keulen allowed Khosravi and Samaneh Ghandali, who are married, to secure their $150,000 bonds through property. She reduced Soroor Ghandali's bond to $75,000.
The judge also approved pretrial release conditions, lifting house arrest and ordering the removal of the defendants' GPS ankle monitors once the court receives documentation securing the bonds.
"It took us every minute up until the calendar call to get these details worked out," Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Boome told Van Keulen.
Samaneh Ghandali began working as a hardware engineering intern at Google in 2018 and was hired full time in June 2019. Prosecutors say she repeatedly referred her husband and sister for engineering roles. Soroor Ghandali started as an intern in March 2022 but was not hired full time.
Citing an FBI investigation, the government asserts Soroor downloaded internal Google documents, including trade secrets, onto a USB drive during her internship. It also asserts that Samaneh uploaded and transferred about 300 files between August 2021 and July 2023. Google revoked her system access before firing her in September 2023.
Prosecutors say Khosravi was hired by a technology company in April 2022 and had access to sensitive information about "Snapdragon SoCs," system-on-chip platforms used in smartphones and other mobile devices. Snapdragon is a brand of chip products made by San Diego-based Qualcomm. Khosravi was fired in August 2025.
At one point during their employment, Samaneh reportedly sent Khosravi Google's confidential information to his work laptop and took screenshots of his laptop screen with her cell phone, showing confidential information from Qualcomm.
According to the government, in December 2023, Samaneh and Khosravi reportedly traveled from San Francisco to Iran and subsequently uploaded and transferred confidential information to other devices.
Samaneh Ghandali immigrated from Iran and became a U.S. citizen in 2018. Khosravi also immigrated from Iran and became a U.S. legal permanent resident in 2019. Soroor Ghandali is an Iranian national who is in the U.S. on a non-immigrant student visa.
At Monday's arraignment, criminal defense attorney Naomi Chung was appointed Khosravi's counsel.
Source: Courthouse News Service
