An indictment in the Northern District of California accuses Samaneh Ghandali, her husband Mohammadjavad Khosravi, and Soroor Ghandali of stealing trade secrets from Google and other tech firms and transferring them to unauthorized locations, including Iran.

If convicted on the most serious charges, the defendants could face a prison term of at least 20 years.

Prosecutors say the scheme included concealing wrongdoing by destroying records, submitting false statements, and photographing screens instead of moving documents.

The stolen materials relate to system-on-chip platforms used in smartphones, valued for their economic significance to competitors.

The case highlights ongoing concerns about safeguarding trade secrets in tech and the international transfer of sensitive information.

It sits within a broader context of safeguarding sensitive technology amid rapid innovation and fierce industry competition.

The article was published February 19, 2026, by Law360’s Lauren Berg.

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Experts emphasize insider risk as a major national-security concern, noting insiders can exfiltrate IP despite controls and calling for stronger data segmentation, monitoring, and export-control enforcement.

Evidence points to the high economic value of the designs, with billions invested by firms like Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, and Intel, and a broader trend of escalating corporate espionage and security spending.

The case centers on Tensor processor trade secrets, signaling risks to product integrity and competitive edge.

Encrypted communications and forged or encrypted messages found on personal devices are central to the conspiracy and affect trial strategy and evidentiary issues.