Jason Duy Vuu, a California-based MIT graduate and former trader at Flow Traders, became the center of a high-profile case involving the theft of proprietary trading code. In the early 2010s, Vuu and two associates were accused of stealing secret algorithms and software from the high-frequency trading firm Flow Traders with the alleged intent to launch a competing trading venture. This article details who Jason Duy Vuu is, how the code was taken, the ensuing criminal charges, plea agreements, and the outcomes – all presented in an accessible way for the general public. It also clarifies that this Jason Duy Vuu is not the same person as another individual named Jason Vuu (of JasonVuu.com) who has no connection to the case.
Background: Who Is Jason Duy Vuu?
Jason Duy Vuu is an American software developer and trader who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is originally from California (specifically San Jose, CA). After MIT, Vuu began his career in quantitative trading. He joined Flow Traders, a proprietary trading firm, and worked as a trader in the company’s New York City office. Flow Traders, founded in 2004 in Amsterdam, is an international trading house with offices in New York and Singapore, specializing in trading securities, futures, options, and other financial instruments. As a trader at Flow Traders, Vuu had access to the firm’s highly confidential trading strategies and computer source code – essential tools that gave the firm its competitive edge in high-frequency trading.
Vuu’s educational pedigree and technical skills positioned him as a promising talent. At MIT, he formed a friendship with Simon Lu, another tech-savvy individual. Unbeknownst to their employer, this friendship would later play a key role in a scheme to misappropriate Flow Traders’ digital trade secrets. In March 2013, Vuu left Flow Traders (as did another colleague, Glen Cressman). Shortly thereafter, disturbing revelations came to light: Vuu was found to have taken portions of Flow Traders’ proprietary code and data with him when he departed.
The Stolen Trading Code and How It Was Taken
While at Flow Traders, Jason Vuu surreptitiously emailed copies of proprietary files from his work account to his personal email on numerous occasions. According to court filings, between August 2011 and August 2012 Vuu sent himself confidential spreadsheets containing Flow Traders’ trading strategies, valuation algorithms, and even fragments of the firm’s source code. The source code was particularly sensitive – prosecutors noted it was the software that “allows the company to structure and execute its trades on the financial markets”. In essence, Vuu was siphoning off the digital “secret sauce” that powered Flow Traders’ high-speed trading operations.
The method of theft was relatively straightforward: Vuu used email and cloud storage to spirit away the files. On at least ten separate occasions, he forwarded internal documents and code to his personal email address. He didn’t act entirely alone, either. His college friend, Simon Lu, who never worked for Flow Traders, was encouraging him from the sidelines. In online chats, Lu reportedly asked Vuu if he could get access to Flow Traders’ source code and other confidential data. Lu’s motive? Prosecutors say Lu and Vuu were planning to use Flow Traders’ code and know-how to create their own trading firm in competition. In fact, after Vuu began taking the files, he uploaded some of the source code to a Dropbox cloud storage account shared with Lu. By using Dropbox, Vuu could give Lu direct access to the stolen code from anywhere.
Another ex-Flow Traders employee, Glen Cressman, was also implicated. Cressman had been a fellow trader in the New York office. While not alleged to be part of Vuu and Lu’s startup plan, Cressman was accused of copying proprietary trading strategy files without permission. In December 2012 (around the time he resigned), Cressman’s personal email received at least two files containing Flow Traders’ trading strategies and valuation algorithms. His defense later claimed these were merely Excel spreadsheets of non-sensitive information, but prosecutors included them as part of the theft case.
It’s important to note that at this stage, none of the stolen code or data was known to have been used to actually compete or profit. Indeed, Vuu’s attorney would later assert that Vuu never used the materials in any malicious way or to harm Flow Traders. Nonetheless, the very act of copying and transferring the firm’s proprietary code and strategies off-network was illegal and set off a chain of legal consequences once Flow Traders discovered the breach.
Criminal Charges and Legal Proceedings
In August 2013, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office (led by DA Cyrus R. Vance Jr.) brought criminal charges against Jason Duy Vuu, Simon Lu, and Glen Cressman for the theft of Flow Traders’ trade secrets. The arrests made headlines in the financial world, drawing parallels to the infamous Goldman Sachs code theft case involving programmer Sergey Aleynikov a few years prior. Like Aleynikov, Vuu and his co-defendants were charged under New York state laws that prosecutors wielded to combat corporate espionage. Specifically, each man faced multiple felony counts of “unlawful duplication of computer-related material” and “unauthorized use of secret scientific material”, statutes that New York had on the books for trade secret theft. These charges might sound arcane, but they carry serious weight – each count was punishable by up to four years in prison if convicted.
Manhattan prosecutors alleged that Vuu and Lu “schemed to steal the trading house’s proprietary software and set up their own shop”, according to court filings. When Vuu and Cressman had resigned from Flow Traders in March 2013, it likely raised suspicions. By late August 2013, investigators had gathered enough evidence (including Vuu’s email trail and the Dropbox logs) to arraign all three men in New York State Supreme Court on felony complaints. Vuu, 26 years old at the time, and Cressman, 26, both pleaded not guilty at their initial arraignment, as did 25-year-old Simon Lu. All three were released on bail while the case proceeded.
In October 2013, a New York grand jury formally indicted Vuu, Lu, and Cressman on the felony charges. This indictment meant the case would move toward trial unless a plea deal was reached. Pre-trial legal wrangling went on through 2014. Judge Laura Ward, overseeing the case, had to consider some novel defense arguments. Attorneys for Vuu and Lu challenged whether the 1967-era “secret scientific material” law even applied to modern computer source code. The defense contended that the statute was intended for industrial espionage in a bygone era (long before high-frequency trading algorithms existed) and that copying digital files didn’t constitute taking a physical “article” or device as envisioned by the law. Prosecutors countered that the form of the trade secret didn’t matter – even if it’s just bits of data, stealing valuable code is tantamount to stealing any other valuable company property.
Judge Ward sided with the prosecution on these points. In July 2014, she ruled that the evidence presented to the grand jury was legally sufficient and that there was no defect in the grand jury proceedings. She upheld the indictment, clearing the way for a trial. In fact, Judge Ward initially set a trial date for October 2014 for Jason Vuu and Simon Lu. (Cressman’s case was being handled separately; his indictment was also sustained, with a trial date set for the same month in 2014.) It appeared that Vuu and Lu would face a courtroom reckoning.
Throughout this period, the defendants maintained their innocence or downplayed the accusations. A lawyer for Cressman publicly stated, “He was a fine employee, and when everything about the case is aired, it will be clear he did nothing wrong.” Likewise, Simon Lu’s attorney, Paul Shechtman, suggested that Lu never actually used any of Flow Traders’ code and urged prosecutors to keep an open mind. Given the risks of a trial – each felony count carried years of potential imprisonment – behind-the-scenes negotiations were likely underway. By late 2014, those negotiations yielded results in the form of plea agreements, avoiding a lengthy trial for all involved.
Plea Agreements and Sentencing
Rather than roll the dice at trial, Jason Duy Vuu agreed to a plea deal that allowed him to avoid prison time. In October 2014, Vuu pleaded guilty to two felony counts (encompassing the computer-material duplication and secret material charges). This plea was formally entered in court and, a few months later, sentencing was decided. In February 2015, a New York State judge sentenced Jason Vuu to five years of probation and ordered him to pay nearly $50,000 in restitution. The restitution was meant to cover Flow Traders’ costs related to the investigation – essentially reimbursing the company for legal fees and other expenses caused by the incident. Importantly, Vuu received no jail time as part of this deal. By pleading guilty, he accepted responsibility for the code theft, but the deal spared him any period of incarceration, as long as he complied with probation terms.
Vuu’s co-defendants saw similarly lenient outcomes. Glen Cressman negotiated an even lighter plea arrangement given his comparatively limited role. In December 2014, Cressman pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count (down from the original felonies) for unauthorized computer use. As part of this agreement, Cressman paid approximately $60,000 in restitution and agreed to a three-year ban from working in the securities industry. The presiding Judge Ward remarked that this offer was “very, very, very generous” – essentially giving Cressman a chance to move on with only a minor criminal record. Cressman’s misdemeanor plea meant he too avoided jail and felony conviction, provided he honored the restitution and industry ban terms.
Simon Lu, the friend who initiated the plan, initially held out longer but ultimately also struck a deal. Lu’s case remained pending a bit beyond his co-defendants’. However, by March 2015 he reportedly pleaded guilty as well. Like Vuu, Simon Lu received a probationary sentence with no prison time (and likely financial penalties, though the details of his restitution or fines were not publicized as widely). In effect, all three individuals “ducked prison” by pleading guilty and accepting probation and financial consequences.
To summarize the outcomes for each individual in the Flow Traders case:
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Jason Duy Vuu (Age 26) – Pleaded guilty to felony charges. Sentenced to 5 years of probation and about $50,000 restitution, but no prison time.
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Simon Lu (Age 25) – Pleaded guilty to charges (after Vuu). Received a probationary sentence (no prison), presumably with fines or restitution (details not widely reported).
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Glen Cressman (Age 26) – Pleaded guilty to a downgraded misdemeanor charge. No prison; required to pay roughly $60,000 restitution and accepted a 3-year ban from the securities trading industry as part of his plea deal.
At Jason Vuu’s sentencing, his defense attorney, Jeremy Saland, emphasized that no actual harm came to Flow Traders from Vuu’s actions. Saland noted that there was no evidence Vuu ever shared the code with Lu or anyone else, nor that he used it to profit or trade. “There may have been some access that ultimately wasn’t authorized,” Saland admitted, “but in no way and in no capacity was this information ever used in a way that was inappropriate or compromised Flow Traders. This is really a case of curiosity kills the cat.” In other words, the defense portrayed Vuu as someone who peeked at files he shouldn’t have – perhaps out of intellectual curiosity or temptation to plan for the future – but who never went through with any nefarious use of them. This perspective likely helped Vuu obtain a probation deal. The judge, in granting probation, still made it clear that any violation of the plea terms could land Vuu in prison for up to 4 years (the maximum for the felonies).
Legal and Financial Consequences
Though Jason Duy Vuu and his co-conspirators avoided incarceration, the case still carried significant consequences for their careers and finances. Vuu and Lu, both convicted felons, faced the stigma of felony records, which can severely limit employment opportunities (especially in finance and tech). Cressman’s three-year industry ban meant he was legally barred from working in trading for a period, effectively derailing his finance career in the short term. The restitution payments – $50k for Vuu and $60k for Cressman – were substantial sums, amounting to a financial punishment that reimbursed Flow Traders for its troubles. These outcomes send a message that even if one escapes prison, stealing corporate secrets can result in costly penalties and career setbacks.
Flow Traders, for its part, treated the theft as a serious breach of trust and security. While the company did not make extensive public comments about the case (a request for comment went unanswered), it undoubtedly cooperated with law enforcement to see its former employees prosecuted. The firm likely also conducted internal reviews to tighten data security – cases like this prompt financial companies to reinforce how they monitor emails, downloads, and employee access to sensitive code. (In fact, news of Vuu’s arrest in 2013 came on the heels of the famous Goldman Sachs code theft case, and around the same time, another NYC-based trading firm, Two Sigma Investments, discovered a similar breach by one of its analysts. The industry was on high alert for insider data theft.)
New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. used these cases to highlight gaps in the law and the importance of protecting intangible intellectual property. “Computer source codes and proprietary trading methods are often the lifeblood of a company’s business model, and stealing them is a crime,” Vance said in a statement in 2015 when announcing a related conviction. He lamented that under existing New York law, stealing something like “valuable printer toner” might technically be treated as a more serious offense than stealing valuable computer source code – an irony he hoped to see addressed. This was a nod to the fact that laws had not fully caught up with how to categorize and punish digital theft. Legal experts observing the Vuu case and others agreed that these prosecutions were testing old statutes in new ways. Stephen McJohn, a law professor, noted that courts were “relying on statutes that [originally] didn’t contemplate present technology” when dealing with high-frequency trading code theft. The difficulty of applying laws from the 1960s to modern software illustrates the evolving nature of cybercrime enforcement.
Despite the legal complexities, the successful plea deals and sentences in Jason Vuu’s case demonstrate that authorities can pursue and penalize the theft of proprietary code. This case, alongside others, likely spurred financial firms to invest more in cybersecurity and to remind employees that taking intellectual property is not only unethical but outright illegal. Wall Street prosecutors made clear that intellectual property theft is taken as seriously as physical theft – a point underscored by the fact that Vuu and his peers faced felony charges and felony convictions, even though the stolen “goods” were digital files and not tangible objects.
⚠️ Important Clarification: Not the Same Jason Vuu
While the name Jason Vuu appears in the headlines surrounding the Flow Traders case, it is critical to emphasize that Jason Duy Vuu of California is not the same individual as Jason Vuu, the entrepreneur behind JasonVuu.com.
✅ Who Is the Jason Vuu of JasonVuu.com?
The Jason Vuu associated with this website is a business builder, web developer, and entrepreneur currently based in Arizona, formerly in Washington State. He is the founder of multiple digital ventures and an architect of web properties designed to be useful, impactful, and beneficial to everyday users and niche communities. His work focuses on:
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Developing community-centered websites and digital tools
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Creating automated systems that streamline business operations
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Building platforms that connect people with valuable resources, whether in real estate, law, local services, or education
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Promoting faith-based truth, especially within Catholicism, through digital evangelization and accessible content
Jason is a faith-driven entrepreneur who integrates spirituality into his business ethics and online ventures. His mission includes helping others discover deeper meaning, moral clarity, and the truth found in traditional Catholic teaching.
He has no affiliation whatsoever with Flow Traders, high-frequency trading, or any of the individuals involved in the code theft case. Any connection drawn between this Jason Vuu and Jason Duy Vuu is entirely erroneous and based solely on name similarity.
Conclusion
The saga of Jason Duy Vuu serves as a cautionary tale in the finance and tech industries. An MIT-educated trader with a promising career made the fateful decision to take his employer’s secret code, thinking it could jump-start a new venture. Instead, he found himself entangled in a criminal prosecution. Ultimately, Vuu and his collaborators escaped prison, but not without criminal records, probation, and hefty financial penalties. The case underscores how proprietary trading algorithms and software are fiercely protected assets, and that even digital theft leaves trails that investigators can follow. For the general public, it’s a window into the high-stakes world of high-frequency trading, where a few lines of code can be worth millions – and taking those lines of code can cost your freedom or livelihood. As law enforcement adapts to the digital age, one takeaway is clear: stealing trade secrets – be it physical or digital – is a serious crime with serious consequences. Jason Duy Vuu learned this the hard way, and his case will be remembered as a precedent-setting example of cyber-theft on Wall Street, distinct from any unrelated namesakes and firmly rooted in the realm of financial law and ethics.
Sources: The information in this article is drawn from official court filings, news reports, and statements by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and defense counsel, including Reuters (reuters.com, reuters.com), Bloomberg (bloomberg.com), Law360 (new-york-lawyers.org), and Associated Press coverage (apnews.com) of the Jason Duy Vuu case. These sources provide a detailed account of the events, charges, and outcomes described above.