Three Engineers Charged for Stealing Google Trade Secrets

A federal grand jury in California has indicted three Silicon Valley engineers on charges of conspiring to steal trade secrets from Google and other major technology companies and transferring sensitive data to Iran. Samaneh Ghandali, 41, her sister Soroor Ghandali, 32, and Mohammadjavad Khosravi, 40, all residents of San Jose, were arrested on February 20, 2026, and appeared in federal district court the same day.

All three defendants are Iranian nationals. Samaneh Ghandali later became a U.S. citizen, while her husband Khosravi holds U.S. legal permanent residency and previously served in the Iranian military. Soroor Ghandali was present in the United States on a nonimmigrant student visa at the time of the alleged offenses.

The defendants held positions at leading technology companies specializing in mobile computer processors. Samaneh and Soroor Ghandali worked at Google before moving to a third company referred to in court documents as Company 3. Khosravi worked at a separate firm, identified in court documents as Company 2, which develops system-on-chip platforms including the Snapdragon series used in smartphones and other mobile devices. Prosecutors described the Snapdragon SoC technology as having significant independent economic value and noted that competitors could not readily obtain the information through other means.

The indictment alleges that the defendants used their authorized access to obtain hundreds of confidential files, including materials related to processor security, cryptography, and hardware architecture. Files were transferred through a third-party communications platform to channels named after each defendant before being copied to personal devices, each other’s work devices, and to Iran.

Google detected the suspicious activity through its internal security systems and revoked Samaneh Ghandali’s access to company resources in August 2023. Following the revocation, she signed a sworn affidavit falsely claiming she had not shared Google’s confidential information with anyone outside the company. Prosecutors allege that she and Khosravi then used a personal laptop to search for ways to delete communications and to research how long mobile carriers retain message records.

In the months that followed, the couple allegedly photographed hundreds of computer screens displaying confidential documents from both Google and Company 2, a method prosecutors believe was used to evade digital monitoring tools. On the night before the pair traveled to Iran in December 2023, Samaneh Ghandali allegedly captured approximately 24 photographs of Khosravi’s work computer screen showing Company 2 trade secrets. While in Iran, a device associated with Samaneh Ghandali accessed those photographs, and Khosravi accessed additional proprietary information including Snapdragon hardware architecture details.

Google confirmed it detected the alleged theft through routine security monitoring and referred the matter to law enforcement. The company said it had implemented safeguards including restricted employee access to sensitive information, two-factor authentication for work accounts, and logging of file transfers to third-party platforms.

The defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, theft and attempted theft of trade secrets, and obstruction of justice. If convicted, each faces a maximum of 10 years in prison per trade secret charge and up to 20 years for obstruction of justice, along with fines of up to $250,000 per count. The case is being prosecuted by the National Security and Special Prosecutions Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, following an FBI investigation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.