Prosecutors on Monday indicted 15 individuals and entities, 4 beneath arrest, on prices of stealing and leaking core state-protected know-how associated to electrical automobile (EV) batteries developed by Samsung SDI to international firms, officers stated.
The Suwon District Prosecutors Workplace stated the 4, together with the pinnacle of an organization accused of orchestrating the leak, have been indicted with bodily detention on prices of violating the commercial know-how safety act, the unfair competitors prevention act and others.
Eleven others have been additionally indicted with out bodily detention, together with a former Samsung SDI worker and two KOSDAQ-listed company entities.
The suspects are accused of siphoning design fashions for EV battery parts developed by Samsung SDI and one in all its companion corporations — key industrial secrets and techniques designated as core state-protected know-how — between October 2022 and February this 12 months, and illegally utilizing them for enterprise functions.
They’re additionally suspected of leaking the confidential knowledge to secondary battery firms in Vietnam and China.
The leaked data included designs for rectangular aluminum battery instances, generally known as “cans,” which shield prismatic batteries from exterior harm, in addition to knowledge on cap meeting elements designed to stop explosions or fires by blocking the stream of electrical energy or gasoline in case of overheating.
The suspects allegedly obtained the know-how utilizing data gained whereas working for a Samsung SDI subcontractor.
Prosecutors launched the investigation after receiving a tip-off from the Nationwide Intelligence Service and secured key digital proof by means of search operations, permitting them to sort out the crime at an early stage and forestall the export of battery parts utilizing the leaked know-how to a Chinese language battery agency, officers stated.
