Ex-Goldman Programmer Aleynikov Indicted Over Software Theft

The indictment, unsealed yesterday in Manhattan federal court, follows appeals to prosecutors by Aleynikov’s lawyer that the government dismiss the charges. Aleynikov must now enter a plea as the case moves closer to a trial.

Aleynikov, 40, was arrested July 3 and charged with theft of trade secrets and transportation of stolen property in foreign commerce. At a July 4 court appearance, a prosecutor said the alleged theft is the “most substantial” that New York-based Goldman Sachs can recall.

“Proprietary information and trade secrets are sometimes the most valuable assets of a business,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Joseph Demarest said yesterday in a statement.

The proprietary code, worth millions of dollars, lets the company do “sophisticated, high-speed and high-volume trades on various stock and commodities markets,” prosecutors have said in court documents. Aleynikov planned to earn three times his salary by joining a new company and engaging in high-volume automated trading, prosecutors said at the time of his arrest.