The US government has charged a Chinese contract programmer with breach of software, as he stole a code valued at $10m, while working for the Federal Reserve Bank.
The suspect has been identified as Bo Zhang, 32, of Queens, New York.
A spokesman for the Federal Reserve Bank in New York said the bank took immediate steps to contain the risks posed by the breach by alerting concerned authorities.
The matter came to light when the colleague of the accused alerted a supervisor, who said Zhang had lost a hard drive, which most probably contained the code.
The Government-wide Accounting and Reporting Program (GWA), built on the code, was developed to help keep track of the billions of dollars being transferred daily by the US government.
Zhang, a contractual employee, when produced in court admitted to stealing the code and said he saved it for personal use in the event of him losing his job.
Meanwhile, cyber crime experts averred that it was a simple theft.
Crime of this kind carries a maximum 10 year imprisonment in the US.
A law enforcement expert said it does not appear as a case of international espionage as Zhang was released on bail and charged only with theft.
