According to the latest reports, an ex-Samsung employee was issued an arrest warrant because he was accused of leaking chip technology of the South Korean giant to a Chinese company in return for some money. As per Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office indicted the employee surnamed Kim, who previously served as the department head at Samsung.
Kim was charged by the prosecutors on charges of violating the industrial technology protection law, as per the officials. The ex-Samsung employee was accused of stealing Samsung's information related to the 18-nano DRAM semiconductor to the Chinese semiconductor manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT).
The chip technology leak damage is estimated to be worth around $1.8 billion
Prosecutors have estimated that the damage caused by this semiconductor technology leak by an ex-Samsung employee could be around 2.3 trillion won ($1.8 billion). The case also reportedly suspects Kim of offering multiple technicians monetary rewards for moving to the Chinese firm. Kim has been accused of handing over seven key technologies in semiconductor manufacturing to CXMT, he would receive tens of millions of dollars when he jumped to the Chinese firm in 2016.
The Chinese firm CXMT, which was nothing in 2016, has grown to be one of the major DRAM manufacturers and a popular name in South Korea and the USA. Prosecutors have also indicted another employee of Samsung's semiconductor equipment supplier for leaking key tech to a Chinese firm in conjunction with Kim.
Samsung and CXMT haven't commented on this huge matter. CXMT, although it did not say anything specific to this matter, added that it respects intellectual property rights and follows a robust process to prevent the misflow of third-party information from its employees.
