Canadian officials on May 24 ordered two anti-drone technology companies run by the same CEO to dissolve business operations in Canada over national security concerns.
According to a statement from the Canadian Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, Bluvec Technologies, Inc. and Pegauni Technology, Inc. were issued dissolution orders and instructed to cease all business operations within the country under a Canadian law that governs foreign investments.
Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry Francois-Philippe Champaign said in the statement that the Investment Canada Act subjects foreign investments to “review for national security concerns.”
Following a “multi-step national security review process,” which included “rigorous scrutiny” by the country’s intelligence and national security community, the government determined that the Canadian business operations of the two companies should be dissolved and the companies must “cease all operations in Canada,” the statement said.
Minister Champaign said that the decision to order dissolution was “based on facts and evidence” and included the advice of the intelligence and national security community “and other government partners.”
He added that while direct foreign investment is welcome in Canada, the government would “act decisively” if those investments “threaten our national security.”
The ministry’s statement did not cite the specific national security concerns with Bluvec Technologies or Pegauni Technology, nor did it specify the investments the two companies made in Canada.
According to its website, Bluvec Technologies develops drone detection and geolocation devices. The website for Pegauni Technology is no longer active and the business appears to have shut down.
Corporate records registered in British Columbia show that the two companies both listed Junfeng Jia as chief executive and sole director. The companies also shared the same mailing address.
Last year, a Superior Court Justice in British Columbia ordered Bluvec to pay Vancouver-based SkyCope Technologies $800,000 for misusing its trade secrets and selling its direction-finding code to Beijing Lizheng Technology, a Chinese-based anti-drone company.
