It was the owners. Crossroads (Josh Philips from Epoch Times) covered something similar. The CCP bosses running firms like this know that there is NO chance in hell of accomplishing the R&D goals they're given.

So they pocket the money from the party, and then they flee China. This is probably someone who knew they couldn't flee (because Xi Jinping is cracking down on dissent and flight), so they had to hide their failure.