Israeli Citizen Sentenced For Stealing Chip Trade Secrets, Conspiring with Taiwanese Company

An Israeli citizen who worked as a senior manager for an Arizona semiconductor technology company was sentenced to time served after admitting he conspired to steal company trade secrets, a case that shows how small pieces of industrial technology can become part of the broader fight over chip supply chains.

Guy Galanti, 48, who lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., was sentenced in late June by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow to time served and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiring to steal a trade secret. Galanti had been in custody since his September 2025 arrest.

Galanti worked for Green Technology Investments (GTI), a Scottsdale company that services semiconductor testing machines and sells re-manufactured machines with new company-designed functions, according to the Justice Department.

Prosecutors said Galanti conspired from early January 2025 through August 2025 with another person to steal GTI’s “Glass Detect Design,” a system meant to help a semiconductor testing machine find microscopic defects on glass semiconductor wafers rather than silicon wafers.

The co-conspirator operated a Taiwanese company that directly competed with GTI and wanted to recreate the design. Galanti sent photos and information and software tied to the system.

DOJ prosecutors said the two used encrypted messaging, deleted their emails and transaction data, and created fake invoices to hide the communications and possible payments.

A Sentence That Looks Lighter Than the Charge

Galanti had spent more than nine months in custody by the time he was sentenced.

Earlier in the case, Snow affirmed a magistrate judge’s detention order after finding Galanti presented a serious flight risk that could not be addressed through release conditions.

The court cited several facts, including that Galanti’s wife and five children had moved back to Israel. Also, they showed he purchased a flight to Israel, that movers were packing his property for international shipment to Ashdod, and that he had substantial assets in Israel and the United States.

The court also said the weight of the evidence from the home search was considerable.

What the Law Requires

Galanti was charged under the federal theft of trade secrets statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1832.

The law covers the unauthorized taking, copying, transmitting or receiving of trade secrets tied to products or services used in interstate or foreign commerce when the defendant intends to benefit someone other than the owner and knows the offense will injure the owner.

The DOJ did not say Galanti acted for the Israeli government, and he was not charged under 18 U.S.C. § 1831—the separate economic espionage statute aimed at trade secret theft intended to benefit a foreign government, foreign instrumentality or foreign agent.

DOJ guidance describes § 1832 as the more common commercial trade secret provision, regardless of who benefits.

The case involves semiconductor testing equipment, a small but important part of the chip manufacturing ecosystem.

Federal agencies have repeatedly described semiconductors as central to economic and national security because they power consumer electronics, vehicles, data centers, critical infrastructure and military systems.

In the chip industry, process knowledge, inspection tools and manufacturing equipment can be as valuable as the chips themselves because they help determine yield, quality and production capability.