Former iRobot engineer says he might have been framed

The former iRobot Corp. engineer accused of stealing company secrets said yesterday that iRobot operatives may have planted a key piece of technology in an effort to frame him.

Jameel Ahed, president of Robotic FX Inc. of Alsip, Ill., was testifying in a hearing in federal court in Boston. IRobot has asked a judge to issue an injunction to halt Robotic FX from making the Negotiator, a military surveillance and bomb-disposal robot similar to iRobot's PackBot machines.

Ahed also said that he has recently been in talks with a major defense contractor that's interested in purchasing Robotic FX. Citing confidentiality agreements, US District Judge Nancy Gertner would not allow Ahed or iRobot attorney Ruffin Cordell to name the company or to discuss the proposed financial terms of the deal.

The US military has intervened in the case by asking Gertner not to issue the injunction. This month, the Pentagon awarded Robotic FX a $280 million contract to build battlefield robots for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military fears an injunction would deprive soldiers of a lifesaving technology for detecting booby traps and roadside bombs.

IRobot sued Robotic FX on Aug. 17, and warned Ahed's attorneys that their client should not destroy or discard any evidence. IRobot also hired detectives to keep Ahed under surveillance, according to statements the company filed in the case. The day the suit was filed, Ahed was seen loading objects into a car owned by Kimberly Hill, Robotic FX's chief operating officer. The next day, Ahed placed the items in a dumpster near Hill's home.

Detectives retrieved electronics components inside a box marked "iRobot." They also allegedly found a specialized "hot plate" device used by iRobot workers to weld sections of the rubber caterpillar treads used by the company's PackBots. Ahed admitted discarding most of the items found by the detectives. But he denied ever having the hot plate. "I can only imagine that this was possibly planted," Ahed said.

"Ahed's claim that the device was planted is preposterous," Cordell said in a statement yesterday. "It is pure fantasy."

Under questioning by Cordell, Ahed acknowledged shredding about 100 CD-ROM disks the day after iRobot sued. Ahed said the disks contained Robotic FX data, not iRobot trade secrets.

Ahed said that he wiped all data from the hard drive of a laptop computer he owned, using software that eliminates all traces of the data. When US marshals went to Hill's apartment, where the laptop was located, the software was still running. Ahed shoved the machine under Hill's bed.

"I was afraid and a little panicked that this thing was still running," Ahed said. "I had a frightening day. I don't know why I did it."

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.