The founder of professional networking website Oilpro.com was arrested for allegedly hacking into Rigzone, a website he previously sold to DHI Group Inc. (NYSE: DHX), according to reports by the US Department of Justice and media outlets. David Kent, 40, was arrested on Wednesday by FBI agents in Spring, Texas.

Kent was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking and wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of five years in prison, and one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison. 

Kent founded Rigzone, a website serving the oil and gas industry, in 2000 and sold it to DHI Group Inc. (NYSE: DHX) — then operating as Dice Holdings Inc. — in 2010 for approximately $51 million. 

Kent launched Oilpro in October 2013, according the Department of Justice. Houston-based Oilpro targets professionals working in the oil and gas industry. 

The department alleges Kent between October 2013 and February 2016 accessed the members database of his former company without authorization and stole information from more than 700,000 customer accounts, and then invited its members to join Oilpro. Similarly, one of Kent’s employees at Oilpro who previously worked for Rigzone accessed information in Rigzone’s Google Analytics account without authorization and forwarded the information to Kent, according to reports.

Kent was in discussions with DHI about a potential acquisition of Oilpro and misrepresented that Oilpro had increased its membership through standard marketing methods, the department alleges.       

“In this case, a profitable business was sold for approximately $51 million,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriquez “Allegedly, however, instead of relinquishing control of his former company, subject David Kent continued to illegally access data and information from his former business to help benefit a competing business he formed after the sale. Unauthorized access to a protected computer system is a federal crime. The FBI will investigate and bring to justice criminal actors who commit computer intrusions, whether the unauthorized access is to a personal computer or a corporate server.”

CNBC reports DHI Group apparently first became suspicious that Oilpro might be accessing Rigzone's customer information in early 2014, according to the complaint. DHI Group then planted two fictitious member accounts in its user database to determine if the members database was being accessed improperly.

The investigation and arrest were led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Manhattan-based US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.