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Prosecutors have reportedly indicted a former Samsung executive on charges of stealing and leaking company secrets. The suspect is accused to have used the illegally obtained confidential Samsung data to build a copycat chip factory in China. Officials did not reveal the identity of the accused.
According to a Reuters report, the suspect illegally acquired critical information about Samsung’s semiconductor technology when working for the company. They used the data to build a rival chip factory just about a mile (1.5km) away from the Korean firm’s chip manufacturing facility in Xian, China between 2018 and 2019. The attempt failed due to funding issues, but the person ended up with cuffs around their wrists.
“It’s a grave crime that could deal a heavy blow to our economic security by shaking the foundation of the domestic chip industry at a time of intensifying competition in chip manufacturing,” the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The defendant, meanwhile, is denying the allegations. They have already been arrested, though. The court has yet to confirm the trial date for the case.
This data theft is estimated to have caused Samsung losses of at least KRW 300 billion (more than $233 million). The accused may not have pulled off the theft alone, though. Prosecutors have reportedly also indicted six other people for their suspected involvement. Among them is an inspection company employee who may have leaked the architectural plan of the company’s semiconductor factory.
Apart from Samsung, the prime suspect in this data theft also worked with another South Korean semiconductor firm SK Hynix, serving as a Vice President. Their tenure or designation at Samsung is not known. But, the report suggests the person held a high-level position at the company. Overall, the person worked in the Korean semiconductor industry for about 28 years.
Prosecutors previously indicted four Samsung employees on similar charges
This isn’t the first case of Samsung employees stealing critical semiconductor technology. In October last year, prosecutors indicted four current and former Samsung employees on similar charges. These indictments are coming amid the South Korean government’s push to strengthen the nation’s semiconductor industry. Prosecutors say these kinds of data thefts jeopardize national economic security.
“We will sternly deal with any leakage of our technology abroad and strongly respond to illegal leaks of domestic companies’ core technologies in semiconductor, automobile, and shipbuilding sectors among others,” Reuters quoted a South Korean police official as saying. The country has launched a nationwide investigation, arresting 77 people involved in 35 cases of suspected corporate spying over the past four months.
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