NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Federal prosecutors are dropping charges against two prominent Louisiana scientists who were arrested last month on accusations of trying to steal trade secrets from their former employer.

The Times-Picayune/ The New Orleans Advocate report that prosecutors moved Monday to drop the charges against Ehab Meselhe and Kelin Hu. Prosecutors wrote that they cannot meet their burden of proof in the case.

The newspaper reported the reversal came after questions were raised about the case.

Prosecutors had alleged the pair had attempted to download a computer model of the lower Mississippi River from the Water Institute, where both previously worked. An attorney for Meselhe told the paper the model is public property and that investigators overlooked evidence that shows they did nothing wrong.

Both scientists now work at Tulane University.