Where can we know German A.
German A. was not a very striking employee. An Einzelgänger, that’s how his former colleagues at ASML and NXP describe him.
But this week the 43-year-old Russian engineer, against his will, was the center of attention. In a full court room in Rotterdam, the Public Prosecution Service heard a four -year prison sentence demanding him. A. has been in custody since August. He is suspected of having violated the Sanction Act because he sold confidential technical documents from NXP and ASML to a henchman in Russia. Since the raid in Ukraine, that country has been trying to set up its own chip industry because the import of semiconductors has been blocked by sanction measures. Russia wants to use those chips for military applications, such as drones.
How did German A. get that data?
During the search, A. Hard disks and USB sticks were found with documents containing instructions for the design of a chip factory and production processes to make semiconductors. Many files, owned by ASML and NXP, were characterized as ‘confidential’. On the USB sticks there was also information from Globalfoundries, where A. also worked in the past, and 88 documents from TSMC. NXP works together with this Taiwanese chip giant.
A. started his career in the Dutch chip industry at Mapper in Delft, which was taken over by ASML in 2019. He was not known there as a high flyer, even though his name is on several patents. After A.’s contract with ASML ended in September 2021, he ended up on hiring at NXP in Nijmegen.
Both NXP and ASML reported after they were pointed out by the FIOD to the embezzlement. But the companies did not demand compensation; NXP and ASML do not seem convinced that A. has obtained crucial documents.
The OM sees the case against German A. as a way to increase awareness of other high -tech companies, which are also the target of espionage. Even if the information that A. passed on to Russia is not enough to build a chip factory, there is a chance that he is one of several spies that Russia will use to collect know -how. This is also apparent from the AIVD warning, which suspects that A. was in contact with the Russian intelligence service SVR.
And what does German A. think of it?
A. denies the allegations. Although he regularly traveled to Russia in recent years and, after those trips, added more than forty mille in his ING account, he said he has not handed any documents. He acknowledges that he saved confidential files from his employers-“as a backup.” He did that for self -study, but according to him the technical information was “useless” if you actually wanted to build a chip factory with it. A. dismissed the plans of his suspected Russian henchman as “vague” and “fake.”
German made a calm impression during the long court session on Thursday, and occasionally tried a sarcastic comment. The judge rejected him – and his interpreter – when he started scolding at the prison management, who denies him visitors. “We don’t use such a language here,” the judge said. The ruling will follow in two weeks.