ExSamsung Executive Accused Of Audacious Chip Factory Plan
© Provided by Digital TrendsIt's nothing new for people to steal trade secrets from their former workplaces, but the idea of taking data to build exact replicas of entire factories and technologies a mile from the original takes offensive practices to a whole new level.
A former Samsung executive has been accused of trying to build a semiconductor factory using data stolen from the Korean tech giant.
South Korean prosecutors this week accused the 65-year-old former CEO of stealing Samsung technology between 2018 and 2019 and setting up a semiconductor company to build a 1.5km plant. The chip manufacturing plant operated by Samsung is headquartered in Xian, in central China.
But the bold plan fell through after a Taiwanese company failed to invest 8 trillion won (about $6.2 billion) in the project, the Korea Times reported.
The project later received a 460 billion won (about $360 million) investment from Chinese stakeholders, claiming that the project used Samsung's technological know-how, allowing it to manufacture test chips at other factories.
The plant employs about 200 people from Samsung and SK Hynix, the second largest manufacturer of memory chips in the world after Samsung. The former Samsung CEO allegedly ordered his employees to take Samsung semiconductor design data and other trade secrets and use them in his new company.
Prosecutors have indicted 6 other people in connection with the alleged offences, including that he is accused of drawing the architectural plans for the Samsung Semiconductor plant.
The Korea Times reported that tech giant Samsung incurred a loss of at least 300 billion won (about $235 million).
At a time when competition in the chip industry is intensifying, undermining the foundations of the domestic chip industry is a serious crime and can seriously damage our economic security. If successful, prosecutors said, the project would cause "irreparable harm" to Samsung.
