Quantitative Trader Charged with Theft of Trade Secrets, Faces 10 Years in Prison.

Cambridge Graduate Richard Ho, 36, faces up to 10 years if found guilty of stealing and then employing Headlands Tech Holdings trade secrets via his new trading firm One R Squared.

The allegation centres on Headland Tech’s proprietary source code, the development of which took years and cost more than one billion dollars and has been key to their success. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Kim said: “As alleged, Richard Ho abused the trust his former employer placed in him and stole trade secrets to use at his own quantitative trading firm.  Ho allegedly tried to cover his tracks by lying to his former employer repeatedly and asking his employees to delete evidence.  Thanks to the FBI, Ho is now in custody.”

“By stealing these trade secrets, Ho was able to quickly launch [his firm] and begin trading successfully.”

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