The FBI visited Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan and raided the home of a former Ford engineer on Friday. The raids were in response to a call from Ford’s security team, who found listening devices planted in meeting rooms at company offices.
Ford says that they initiated an investigation into the engineer, who was fired after the devices were found and linked to her, and called in the Federal Bureau of Investigation due to the legal implications and broad national and international reach the findings could have.
The FBI took computers, listening devices, and corporate records from the Ford headquarters building and raided the Detroit home of Sharon Leach, a mechanical engineer who worked for Ford for 17 years. No charges have been filed against Leach, but it’s believed that she was the one who placed the devices in meeting rooms.
According to the engineer’s attorney, quoted in the Detroit News, the devices were placed in order to transcribe meeting events and not for any illegitimate purpose. They were not, the attorney emphasized, placed where the company’s board would meet.
The FBI and Ford are not disclosing more information due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
