Fired employee accused of selling glass technology to Chinese firm
KOBE--A former employee of a major glass bottle manufacturer in Hyogo Prefecture and his wife were arrested on Oct. 5 on suspicion of industrial espionage after confidential corporate data was leaked to a Chinese competitor. A former employee of a major glass bottle manufacturer in Hyogo Prefecture and his wife, Seika, were arrested on Oct. 5 on suspicion of industrial espionage after confidential corporate data was leaked to a Chinese competitor. The couple, who deny the allegations, are accused of selling Amagasaki-based Nihon Yamamura Glass Co.’s special technologies for making ultra-light glass bottles to the Chinese manufacturer. Police believe it was a reward for providing the trade secrets.
Publicados : 2 anos atrás por no Business
KOBE--A former employee of a major glass bottle manufacturer in Hyogo Prefecture and his wife were arrested on Oct. 5 on suspicion of industrial espionage after confidential corporate data was leaked to a Chinese competitor.
Mizuki Kotaka, 57, and his wife, Seika, 51, are accused of selling Amagasaki-based Nihon Yamamura Glass Co.’s special technologies for making ultra-light glass bottles to the Chinese manufacturer.
The couple, from Ashiya in the prefecture, deny the allegations.
Police suspect the pair accessed secret data stored on a Nihon Yamamura Glass server in June 2016, when Mizuki was the company’s sales representative and an interpreter for customers in China.
Programs used to mold light glass bottles were apparently sent to Mizuki’s private email address and were copied.
Between 2016 and 2021, a Chinese glass manufacturer paid a total of around 189.6 million yen ($1.27 million) into the account of another company, where Seika served as a board member.
Police believe it was a reward for providing the trade secrets.
Mizuki was fired in November 2022 after Nihon Yamamura Glass became suspicious about his ties with the Chinese firm, which was producing ultra-light glass bottles using technologies unique to the Japanese manufacturer.
Tópicos: Japan