Taiwanese police have busted a group suspected of stealing business secrets from leading international GaN wafer supplier Win Semiconductors, reported CNA.

A Taiwanese engineer working for a Chinese semiconductor company surnamed Yang, absorbed in total seven current and former Win Semiconductors engineers to steal company information. They were promised an income five times higher than their current salary, and given a signon bonus worth NT$2 million (US $60,000).

Prosecutors found the 44-year old Taiwanese man contacted current and former Win Semiconductor engineers through headhunting companies and other recruiting channels. He also planned to employ the recruited engineers in the Chinese company where he is currently employed, which clearly violates Taiwan’s Trade Secret Protection Act.

Yang, who coordinated the commercial espionage operation, and two others engineers involved in the case were planning to smuggle the Taiwanese semiconductor companies info to their contact in China by next Monday.

Police and prosecutors detained the three men on Friday for violating Trade Secrets Protection Act. Shu-hua Chang, Director of Business Crime Division of the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office and Prosecutor Chen Pin-jie are heading the investigations.

Win Semiconductor is a global leader in 6-inch GaAs wafers and GaN wafer production. These products are widely applied in smartphones, wireless telecommunications, and military grade high power radar equipment.

Large Taiwanese and American manufacturers were the main players in GaAs and GaN wafer production, and this is a technology highly valued  by many manufacturers, wrote Ivan Lin, Head of Content, TrendForce. Win Semiconductor’s case represents the intensifying talent acquistion situation in the optoelectric and semiconductor industry in recent years, and is a by-product from fierce market competition.