It is only by chance, according to the government, that Intel learned of Pani's plans to work for a competitor and decided to check if he had made off with confidential files.
After receiving a performance review in April of 'below expectations', Pani informed Intel on May 29 that he was resigning, according to Russell's statement.
In an e-mail to his boss, Pani said a hedge fund was interested in an option-trading strategy he had developed, and that he might 'dabble in that for a few months' and otherwise 'rest, reflect, and rejuvenate'.
Just before Pani returned for his final day at Intel and his exit interview, his boss 'heard a rumor' that Pani had accepted a position at AMD, according to Russell's statement.
This prompted a review of Pani's actions, which revealed not only that he had downloaded top-secret material, but also that he had copied his Intel laptop's hard drive onto an external storage device.
Image: A 300-millimetre and a 200-millimetre wafer of Advanced Micro Devices chips are on display. | Photograph: Norbert Millauer/AFP/Getty Images
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