The FBI teaches you lie detection, people reading and intelligence skills

Chapter 74 Economic intelligence: can subvert the original order of the economic field (2)
The court found that, between 2003 and 2009, Hu Stai and his Chinese employees, Wang Yong, Ge Minqiang, and Liu Caikui, took advantage of their positions to solicit or accept money for others in the iron ore trade with China. seek profit.Among them, Hu Stai received more than 646 million yuan, Wang Yong received more than 7514 million yuan, Ge Minqiang received more than 694 million yuan, and Liu Caikui received more than 378 million yuan.Hu Stern, Wang Yong, Ge Minqiang, and Liu Caikui also used unfair means such as bribery to obtain the commercial secrets of Chinese steel companies, which seriously affected and damaged the interests of Chinese steel companies and caused huge economic losses to the relevant Chinese steel companies.Among them, in 2009, more than 20 enterprises in China overpaid 10.18 billion yuan in prepayment, and the interest loss in the second half of the year alone reached more than 1170.3 million yuan.Hu Stai, Ge Minqiang, and Liu Caikui each voluntarily confessed the fact of accepting bribes when they were under investigation for allegedly infringing on commercial secrets, and they had surrendered themselves.

It was just a few people headed by Stern Hu who made the iron ore trade negotiations messy and confusing. So, what kind of person is this Stern Hu?
Stern Hu was born in Tianjin in 1963. After graduating from junior high school, he studied lathe engineering for two years in a mechanical engineering school in Tianjin.After the resumption of the college entrance examination, he entered the History Department of Peking University in 1979.

Stern Hu is modest and good at listening. When doing things, he pays attention to investigation and makes good use of inner ghosts.Hu Stern is very concerned about how to use "golden dollars" to corrupt and seduce the middle and high-level managers of China's major steel factories.Stern Hu said that the most valuable information can be inquired at the smallest cost, such as inventory and production information can be obtained from steel mills in one meal, and it is easier to inquire about such information from people poached from associations and governments.

Some people say that Hu Stern has very strong business ability and is a "typical professional manager".According to a person who has dealt with Stern Hu, Hu spends most of his time in China. In terms of business, Stern Hu is very capable. Steel mills, selling their own company's ore.In the industry, Stern Hu has a good reputation and is good at listening. He is a "typical professional manager".Rio Tinto's Australian headquarters used "excellence" and "diligence" to evaluate Stern Hu.

The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of National Security stated that during the negotiations on the import and export of iron ore between China and foreign countries, Hu Stern and others used improper means to spy and steal Chinese state secrets by recruiting and buying insiders of Chinese steel production units, which caused damage to China's national economic security and interests. significant damage.

Since China's steel industry began to participate in iron ore price negotiations, the negotiations have never been evaluated as successful domestically.Every year when the results of the negotiations are announced, there are waves of doubts. "It turned out that the Chinese iron and steel companies had an inner ghost and provided information to competitors." An insider at the Zhangdian Iron and Steel Plant in Shandong expressed such emotion.

We seem to be able to see some problems from the negotiated price list in 2009.

April 2008

With the global economy sluggish and steel companies cutting production, the negotiation situation seems to be increasingly favorable for a buyer's (China) market
The annual new annual iron ore negotiation starts. Representatives from Chinese, European and Japanese steel companies will conduct one-on-one negotiations with the three global mining giants to determine the long-term agreement price of iron ore in fiscal year 2009.

End of May 2008
Chinese steelmakers can ask international mining giants such as Rio Tinto to cut prices for raw materials such as iron ore by 82%.

The three traditional iron ore magnates have also announced their production reduction plans and plans for 2009 either in virtual or in real terms.

April 2009

Chinese steelmakers are ready to ask the two companies to cut iron ore prices by 40% and introduce a quarterly pricing mechanism in negotiations.

Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Vale respectively visited China Iron and Steel Association to exchange and discuss the iron ore pricing model and China's domestic iron ore market.

End of May 2009
The China Iron and Steel Association issued a statement saying that Chinese iron and steel enterprises cannot accept the 2009 iron ore price agreement reached by Rio Tinto and Nippon Steel Corporation of Japan.

力拓公司与日本新日铁公司率先达成09年度铁矿石价格协议，粉矿在08年度基础上下降32.95％，块矿在08年度基础上下降44.47％。

April 2009

Secretary-General of China Iron and Steel Association said that iron ore negotiations will soon have results.Some insiders speculate that the Chinese side is likely to accept a 30.00% reduction in the initial price.

Negotiations on iron ore have entered a feverish stage, and the three major miners have stepped up their "forced palace" and have stopped the spot supply of iron ore to China, demanding that China accept the initial price previously agreed with Japanese and South Korean steel companies.

But in fact, this is not the only way for Rio Tinto to disintegrate China's participation in the iron ore negotiations. People who know about Rio Tinto's operations in China have pointed out that in addition to stealing Chinese state secrets through Chinese steel mills, Rio Tinto's " There are so many "eyes and ears".

A director of the China region of the three major mining companies once revealed to a reporter from China Business Network that they often send some employees to investigate steel mills across the country to understand the production demand of the steel mills. "Rio Tinto and other three major mining companies have a very good understanding of the demand of Chinese steel mills through various channels." A steel industry analyst said.

Since 2003, the basis for Rio Tinto's negotiations to disintegrate Chinese steel companies has gradually been established.This year, Baosteel Group began to participate in iron ore price negotiations, and the Chinese factor began to delight the three major mining companies including Rio Tinto.They know China is a potentially huge market.

However, the unfortunate news is that China, as a huge buyer of global iron ore, has always been considered to have no right to speak.From 2004 to 2007, the long-term price of iron ore rose by 18.6%, 71.5%, 19% and 9.5% respectively.During the same period, China's steel production also increased successively by 24.51%, 30.94%, 23.84% and 15.17%. Beginning in 2008, the iron ore negotiation rules were violated by the "two extensions", which "coerced" steel companies through "negotiations" to a higher increase than Vale.

In the 1981 years since the formation of the iron ore negotiation mechanism in 28, the time before 2002 was calm, and there was no major fluctuation in the annual negotiation price.Since China joined the rules of the game, Rio Tinto and other three major mining companies have been pondering how to obtain higher prices from the huge Chinese market.

According to the iron ore negotiation rules, the negotiation pattern is three-on-three, that is, the supply side - Australia's BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Brazil's Vale, and the demand side - Baosteel Group, Nippon Steel and European steel mills, decide the next financial For the annual iron ore price, as long as any one of the mines reaches an iron ore sales contract with the steel mill, the negotiation will be declared over, and all other negotiations must accept this result.

In 2003, China overtook Japan to become the world's largest importer of iron ore.Changes in the pattern of demand for iron ore by the global steel industry have affected Rio Tinto's strategy.Because Chinese companies are scattered, Rio Tinto has found a breakthrough to disintegrate this seemingly huge camp in China.

In addition to buying internal personnel from Chinese steel production units and sending internal personnel to all steel mills around the country for research, Rio Tinto also "poached" government public relations personnel, Chinese steel experts, and Chinese mining experts from major steel mills and government departments across the country with high salaries. Wait for "talent".In addition, it also fueled the flames with the help of broken confession and public opinion.

In the case of sluggish demand, in order to expand sales, the three major mining companies such as Rio Tinto are still looking for more sales targets in China-small and medium-sized steel mills in Jiangxi, Hebei, and Shanxi have reached agreements. In fact, these steel mills did not It does not have the qualification to import Changxie mine.

In addition, a conclusive evidence is: Rio Tinto iron ore executive Sam Wales also publicly disclosed that this year Rio Tinto's global iron ore sales, spot sales have jumped to 50% of the total.The CEO of BHP Billiton, Gao Ruisi, also publicly stated that the iron ore sold by BHP Billiton in the spot market last quarter accounted for more than 20% of the total.

"Among these factors, the most important thing is to get information from Chinese steel companies and get the trump card of China's steel industry, so how can we negotiate with others?" said an insider of Shandong Zhangdian Iron and Steel Factory.

2009年7月5日，胡士泰、王勇、葛民强、刘才魁等四名力拓员工，被上海市国家安全局刑事拘留。 2009年7月9日，上海市国家安全局称，胡士泰等4人采取不正当手段刺探窃取中国国家秘密。2010年3月29日，上海市第一中级人民法院对此案进行了公开审理。

After the occurrence of the Rio Tinto case, Rio Tinto's stock prices in both places in China fell by 30% due to this impact, and the direct loss of goodwill converted was nearly 1 billion yuan.It also brought out problems related to tax evasion, business intelligence personnel, and political corruption in China by some foreign companies such as Rio Tinto.Correspondingly, it also reveals China's internal system, especially the lack of scientific rationality of the iron ore import qualification management system, and the prevalence of corruption in China's steel industry.As Rio Tinto has fallen into the "intelligence personnel gate", it has attracted speculation that China's iron ore market will be reshuffled.

Under the new economic situation, economic intelligence personnel are rampant. Relevant departments should be vigilant, and at the same time strengthen system reforms and legislation to protect legitimate trade exchanges and provide a good atmosphere for trade negotiations.

§§§Section [-] Worldwide Competition for Trade Secrets

In the 20s and 80s, there was a battle for trade secrets in the worldwide computer industry.Today, there is no trace of that war without gunpowder, but the lessons it left for people are still worth remembering today.

This battle for trade secrets took place between International Business Machines Corporation of the United States and Hitachi and Fujitsu of Japan.From the 20s to the 60s, International Business Machines Corporation has controlled 70% of the world's business computer market.This huge market share has already made some Japanese electronics companies salivate for imitation, but they have never had a chance.

In 1970, an opportunity came unexpectedly, and an important figure in International Business Machines Corporation, Eugene Amdahl, chief engineer of the 360 ​​design group, resigned.Knowing this news, Japan’s Fujitsu Corporation felt like a treasure. Chairman Daisuke Kobayashi learned through various channels that after Eugene Amdahl’s resignation, he wanted to set up his own company to produce a product that was cheaper than International Business Machines Corporation’s. Inexpensive, better-performing computers.Therefore, Fujitsu of Japan tried every means to curry favor with Eugene Amdahl, and set up a research institute near Eugene Amdahl in 1971. Two years later, it bought 24% of Amdahl’s stock, and A year later, Fujitsu Corporation of Japan had mastered the 370 technology of International Business Machines Corporation and began to produce computers imitating the 370 model.While Japan's Fujitsu moved quickly, Hitachi also began to imitate IBM's products without hesitation, and greatly reduced its price, in order to exclude IBM's market share in Japan.As of 1979, in the Japanese market, Japan's Fujitsu's computer market share has leapt to the top, followed by Hitachi, and International Business Machines has retreated to third.

In this case, International Business Machines Corporation secretly developed the 308X series models in order to compete for the Japanese market.At the same time, after Hitachi obtained 308 of the 27 production instruction manuals for the 10X series through normal channels, it found them extremely valuable, so it tried everything possible to get the other 17.The manuals that Hitachi had obtained were smuggled out by Reimund Kadet, a computer researcher who had previously worked for International Business Machines Corporation, when he resigned. He copied a copy and sent it to Hitachi.But unfortunately, Lin Jianzhi, a senior technician of Hitachi, disclosed this matter to a person named Bailey due to his negligence.Lin Jianzhi would never have imagined that Bailey was also an employee of International Business Machines Corporation. Maybe out of patriotism and loyalty, he immediately reported Hitachi's secret theft to International Business Machines Corporation.

After International Business Machines received Bailey's tip, it was of course very annoyed, and immediately ordered the company's No. [-] security expert, Richard Callahan, to investigate.Richard Callahan, a former FBI drug investigator, believes that the first problem to be solved is to find out whether Hitachi really took the information.In order to get close to Hitachi's Kenji Lin, Richard Callahan asked Bailey for help, and Bailey agreed to act as a double-faced intelligence officer.After Richard Callahan confirmed that Hitachi had obtained the information, he adopted a desperate strategy and asked the FBI to participate in the operation.

In November 1981, Lin Jianzhi flew from Tokyo to Las Vegas.There, Bailey introduced Richard Callahan, who was posing as a retired lawyer, to Lin Kenzhi. A few hours later, Richard Callahan introduced an American federal investigator named Harrison to Lin Kenzhi, saying: Harrison was a senior employee of International Business Machines Corporation and had access to the company's confidential information.Lin Jianzhi believed it was true.In December of the same year, Lin Jianzhi wrote to Bailey and said: If there is no suitable information for us, we will no longer pay your travel expenses.In order to continue the "game", International Business Machines had to reluctantly provide information.In this way, from November 11 to June 12, International Business Machines Corporation provided Hitachi with information on the hardware and software that had been successfully developed at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as information on obtaining patent rights.Hitachi offered $1981 in intelligence officer commissions.And these confidential information, for Hitachi, are all things that lose their value after some time.Because in another two or three months, Japanese companies can obtain it through legal means.

In order to elicit the mastermind and director of Hitachi's conspiracy, Richard Callahan and the US FBI under the pseudonym Harrison falsely claimed that two executives of International Business Machines Corporation were about to retire. What top-secret documents of International Business Machines Corporation , What kind of hardware and software, these two people can get, but the condition is to get an income equivalent to two or three years' salary, and to trade in cash. I'm afraid they won't agree to such a deal, but Hitachi leaders must assure them that confidentiality will be strictly maintained."

After Richard Callahan made a move, Hitachi was really fooled.Lin Kenzhi immediately arranged painstakingly for Dr. Kisaburo Nakazawa, director of Hitachi Odawara Computer Factory, to meet Richard Callahan and "Harrison" at the San Francisco Hotel.Richard Callahan wanted to know who else was involved in the conspiracy, so he asked Kisaburo Nakazawa to draw up an organizational chart of Hitachi, pretending to be worried that the stolen information would be leaked to international business The machine company looks like.Kisaburo Nakazawa assured that all the stolen materials will be kept by them, and he will copy them himself, without using photocopiers, and will not disclose them to anyone.

After all the stolen goods were obtained, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested 1982 people including Kenji Lin and Kisaburo Nakazawa on June 6, 22. In February 11, the United States held a trial in San Francisco. After the trial, the judge fined Lin Jianzhi $1983, Hitachi software engineer $2, and Hitachi $1.Although these fines are insignificant, they prove Hitachi's crime of stealing secrets.So far, the battle for trade secrets has come to an end.

It can be seen that the competition for trade secrets is very fierce. The FBI pointed out that in today's era, the competition for commercial secrets has reached a feverish level, and the anti-intrusion work of the guardians of commercial secrets is facing severe challenges.

(End of this chapter)