LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� The founder and CEO of a software company targeted by election deniers was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stealing data on hundreds of Los Angeles County poll workers.
Konnech Corporation's Eugene Yu, 51, was arrested in Meridian Township in Michigan and held on suspicion of theft of personal identifying information, while computer hard drives and other 鈥渄igital evidence" were seized by investigators from the county district attorney's office, according to the office.
Local prosecutors will seek his extradition to California.
鈥淲e are continuing to ascertain the details of what we believe to be Mr. Yu鈥檚 wrongful detention by LA County authorities," Konnech said in a statement that ended: 鈥淎ny LA County poll worker data that Konnech may have possessed was provided to it by LA County, and therefore could not have been 鈥榮tolen' as suggested."
Konnech is a small company based in East Lansing, Michigan. In 2020, it won a five-year, $2.9 million contract with LA County for software to track election worker schedules, training, payroll,and communications, according to the county registrar-recorder/county clerk, Dean C. Logan.
Konnech was required to keep the data in the United States and only provide access to citizens and permanent residents but instead stored it on servers in the People鈥檚 Republic of China, the DA鈥檚 office said.
The DA's office didn't specify what specific information allegedly was taken. But officials said it only involved poll workers, not voting machines or vote counts and didn't alter election results.
鈥淏ut security in all aspects of any election is essential so that we all have full faith in the integrity of the election process,鈥� District Attorney George Gasc贸n said in a statement.
鈥淲ith the mid-term General Election 35 days away, our focus remains on ensuring the administration of this election is not disrupted,鈥� said a statement from Dean C. Logan, the LA County registrar-recorder/county clerk.
There wasn't any evidence that any election worker was bribed or extorted and an investigation was pending into whether any of the data went into inappropriate hands, the DA's office said.
Konnech previously said that all the data for its American customers were stored on servers in the United States, the New York Times reported Monday.
The paper reported that Konnech and Yu, who was born in China, became the target of claims by election conspiracy theorists that the company had secret ties to the Chinese Communist Party and had supplied information on 2 million poll workers.
There wasn't any evidence to support those claims, but Yu received threats and went into hiding, the paper said.
Konnech also has contracts with Allen County, Indiana, and DeKalb County in Georgia, the Times said.
On its website, Konnech said it currently has 32 clients in North America.
鈥斺赌�
On October 4, 2022, The Associated Press published the above story about the founder and CEO of a software company arrested on suspicion of stealing personal identifying information on Los Angeles County poll workers. The AP erroneously included in that story a photo of a different person with the same name, which has since been removed. The AP regrets the error.
The Associated Press
