Former Google software engineer Linwei Ding of stealing confidential information about Google’s artificial intelligence technology to help the People’s Republic of China.

Criminal charges were announced against a man and a woman in Santa Cruz County and three other Californians, as well as owners and executives of medical businesses, physicians and manufacturers of fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards with losses greater than $149 million.

The convictions follow three years of cooperation with a federal investigation of thefts of trade secrets and wire fraud that involved the participation of the FBI and IRS.