The Taipei District Court yesterday ordered the detention of two senior HTC Corp (宏達電) officials on suspicion of embezzlement and theft of commercial secrets.
The court ruled that vice general manager of HTC’s research department Chien Chih-lin (簡志霖) and department director Wu Chien-hung (吳建弘) be kept in custody.
Prosecutors said Chien and Wu planned to open new phone design companies in Taiwan and China. They were suspected of planning to cooperate with local governments in China to start companies and transfer HTC technology to China, prosecutors said.
Photo: CNA
The court granted the prosecutors’ request to detain the pair on the grounds that they may collude with others and flee the country.
They were detained on suspicion of violating Taiwan’s Trade Secrets Act (營業秘密法), the Securities Exchange Act (證券交易法) and other laws, the court said.
Earlier yesterday, prosecutors released senior engineer Huang Hung-yi (黃弘毅) on NT$300,000 (US$10,000) bail and senior manager Huang Kuo-ching (黃國清) on NT$100,000 bail.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office launched the investigation after HTC filed charges against the executives. On Friday afternoon after the stock market closed, prosecutors and agents from the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau searched their offices in HTC’s building in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Sindian District (新店).
Prosecutors said HTC accused the senior officials of using fake receipts to seek reimbursements of close to NT$10 million.
HTC was quoted by prosecutors as alleging the suspects were planning to open three phone design companies in Taiwan and China and accusing them of stealing commercial secrets related to a new model’s screen interface.
HTC also accused them of betraying the company’s trust, fraud and leaking commercial secrets, according to prosecutors.
HTC yesterday said the case will not affect company operations. It declined to disclose further information, citing non-disclosure clauses.
It also declined to confirm whether new-generation interface “Sense” software was targeted.
The Sense user interface is one of the selling points for the company’s new phones. HTC is expected to unveil its new phone with the 6.0 Sense software later this year.
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
RSS