United Microelectronics (NYSE: UMC) , the second-largest contract chipmaker in Taiwan after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing , recently pled guilty to stealing trade secrets from American memory chipmaker Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) .
The U.S. Department of Justice launched the investigation two years ago when three of UMC's employees were accused of passing Micron's designs to Fujian Jinhua , a state-owned chipmaker in China. Those three employees -- Stephen Chen, J.T. Ho, and Kenny Wang -- previously worked at Micron's subsidiary in Taiwan.
UMC initially hired Chen as a senior VP and assigned him to oversee a DRAM project with Fujian Jinhua. Chen subsequently brought Ho and Wang (who allegedly stole the chip designs from Micron) to his division -- which then passed the designs to Fujian Jinhua to create new chips.
For further details see:
Micron's Trade Secrets Debacle in Taiwan Raises a Bright Red Flag