German A., the Russian former employee of chip machine manufacturer ASML and Chipbedrijf NXP, has to go to jail for three years. The court in Rotterdam decided on Thursday. The judge eight proven That A. copied technical documents from the server of the companies for which he worked for four years. He shared that confidential information over a period of about a year and a half with a person in Russia.
With his espionage activities, the 43-year-old A. has violated the EU sanctions. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, EU member states introduced various sanction measures against Russia. For example, it is forbidden to trade half -conductors for the production of chips to Russia. Russia is now trying to make chips itself – and needs knowledge. Playing in information to Russia is “extremely serious,” the judge says. In this way the country can “benefit from progressive technological knowledge.”
This allows the “military capacities” of Russia to be strengthened. The judge warns of possible consequences for Ukraine and “international security and stability.”
A. has not only been convicted for violating the Sanctions Act. The judge also believes that there is enough evidence that the former employee has been guilty of computer peace breach. He gave himself ‘deliberate, without permission’ access to the ASML and NXP systems.
The judge does not consider that A. earned from his espionage. The money that was deposited in his bank account cannot be linked to sharing the documents. That is why the punishment is one year lower than the four years that the Public Prosecution Service had demanded. The OM saw the case against German A. as a way to increase awareness about espionage.
Read also
Who is German A.? He was not known as a high flyer