Six HTC Employees Charged for Revealing Company Secrets

Six HTC employees, including an executive, have been charged for disclosing company secrets.

According to source of The Wall Street Journal, the Taiwan-based smartphone manufacturer has filed charges againsts its former executive Thomas Chien together with five other employees. They allegedly revealed some company classified information and production expenditures, and took illegal rewards.

According to the prosecutors handling the case, Mr. Chien, ex-vice president of design for HTC Corp. was indicted with revealing its upcoming smartphone’s interface design. The accused executive and five other unidentified persons in Beijing were allegedly planning to put up a company together. They were also charged with breach of trust for by all accounts taking more or less US$1.12 million or NT$33.57 million by forging and falsifying expenditures. A portion of the amount was also obtained by taking kickbacks from suppliers.

The prosecutors told WSJ that they have hauled up three other individuals from the party of suppliers with the same case. However, they didn’t name the suppliers charged.

HTC Corp., back in August, filed a complaint against Mr. Chien and two other employees with the Taiwan’s Bureau of Investigation for purportedly disclosing company secrets.

In a statement released by the Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones and tablets, it said, “The company expects employees to observe and practice the highest levels of integrity and ethics. The company does not condone any violation.”

The office of the prosecutor said in the report that each of the charges -- leaking company secrets and breach of trust – carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The development follows high-level executive exits from the premise of HTC Corp. in recent months due to the decline of the company’s global market share and profitability.

HTC declined to give statement on the charges filed against Mr. Chien's group, giving only the same statement it said earlier that it has not tolerated any activities inside the company that violate company policies.