Federal prosecutors said the pair tried to sell technology to manufacture batteries for electric cars that belonged to the company.

A Canadian man who lives in China was arrested Tuesday and held in New York after he and a business partner were accused of trying to sell secret battery manufacturing technology belonging to Tesla.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn asked a judge to hold Klaus Pflugbeil without bail on a charge of theft of trade secrets. He was arrested after meeting with undercover agents Tuesday on Long Island and trying to sell them technology used to produce battery parts, the office of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.

The second man, Yilong Shao, 47, a Chinese citizen, remains at large, prosecutors said. A public defender representing Mr. Pflugbeil, 58, did not respond to requests for comment late Tuesday.

Court documents identified the company whose secrets were stolen only as “a U.S.-based leading manufacturer of battery-powered electric vehicles and battery energy systems.” That description and other details in court documents match Tesla.