A former senior executive at Samsung has been arrested for stealing blueprints for Samsung’s semiconductor plant in China, Business Korea reported. The 65-year-old suspect, referred to as Mr. A, was indicted by prosecutors in the Suwon District and charged with violating the country’s Industrial Technology Protection Act and the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
He allegedly stole information about the plans – including design drawings, Basic Engineering Data (BED), and trade secrets – between 2018 and 2019. He’s accused of plotting to use the information to build his own semiconductor plant in Xi’an, China, less than a mile from Samsung’s own plant.
Mr. A’s vision for the plant never came to fruition after an electronics manufacturer in Taiwan reportedly failed to deliver on its $6.2 billion USD investment, according to Business Korea. Mr. A apparently did receive a $358 million USD investment from Chengu, China, and had built the R&D portion of the plant.
In addition to Mr. A, five employees of his and one employee of a subcontractor working for Samsung were also indicted on the same charges. Prosecutors allege that Mr. A’s actions cost Samsung $234 million USD in damages.
Mr. A and his alleged co-conspirators will now have to stand trial for their crimes.
In other tech news, Samsung’s Odyssey G9 is a curved, 49-inch gaming monitor.
