A former ASML staff member has been barred from entering the country for twenty years. The Russian man allegedly stole company secrets from the Veldhoven chips manufacturer. Entry bans are imposed only when national security has been put at risk.
A ‘Nieuwsuur’ investigation brought this to light. A lawsuit is pending against the Russian engineer for multiple violations of the sanctions act. He is suspected of stealing documents such as microchips user manuals belonging to ASML as well as to chips technology firm Mapper Lithography. In exchange he allegedly received thousands of euros.
The stolen information is said to have advanced the Russian chips production. In 2015 the man was employed by Delft startup Mapper Lithography, which went bankrupt in 2018. Their technology as well as their employees, the engineer among them, were taken over by ASML. Recently the man is said to have worked for Eindhovens chips manufacturer NXP.
Charges
ASML says on tv-programme ‘Nieuwsuur’ that the management knows of the upcoming court case against their former employee. The firm has filed charges too. Neither the department of justice nor the Russian defense lawyer wish to comment. The suspect is held in a Dutch prison. His first court appearance will be on Monday 9 December.
Previous theft
For ASML this is not the first time company secrets were stolen. In 2019 Chinese spies stole a large number of company secrets from a branch in San Jose, USA. For years they had access to the internal networks and stole source codes, software, pricing strategies and secret user manuals.
The theft was orchestrated by XTAL, founded in 2014, a competitor of the Veldhoven firm. The rival firm managed to process the stolen knowhow in no time and used it to lure important clients away from ASML, such as electronics giant Samsung.
