Former Avago Taiwan engineer indicted over alleged trade-secret leaks

Taipei, May 25 (CNA) A former engineer at Avago Technologies Taiwan Ltd. has been indicted for allegedly leaking the company's trade secrets, including client orders and executive meeting materials, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office said Monday.

The former employee, surnamed Lee (李), was charged with violating the Trade Secrets Act and related offenses following an investigation triggered by an internal whistleblower report.

Lee worked at the company from August 2012 to March 2025, serving as an application engineer and a regional sales engineer in the semiconductor solutions division, among other positions, according to prosecutors.

Avago Taiwan is a subsidiary of Broadcom Inc., a global semiconductor and infrastructure software company headquartered in California.

According to prosecutors, Lee allegedly used a company-issued laptop to access Avago's client order analysis system, without authorization, while he was employed there.

Prosecutors said he downloaded and reproduced trade secrets, including customer orders, financial forecasts, product development schedules, client lists and operational data, which he later compiled into lecture material for use at paid seminars.

Investigators also alleged that Lee illegally reproduced internal meeting videos and presentation slides from quarterly briefings hosted by Broadcom President and CEO Hock E. Tan and Charlie Kawwas, the president of the company's semiconductor solutions group.

Lee used screenshots and recordings to create files for his seminar presentations, prosecutors said.

Between January 2024 and March 2025, Lee allegedly held 85 seminars at venues across Taipei at the invitation of other companies, prosecutors said.

At the events, Lee allegedly presented himself as a "Broadcom expert" or "AVGO expert" and used the confidential materials in presentations and oral briefings, thereby disclosing trade secrets to the attendees, according to prosecutors.

AVGO is Broadcom's stock ticker symbol on the Nasdaq exchange.

Prosecutors said Lee earned NT$2.958 million (US$94,249) in speaking fees from the seminars.

The case came to light after Avago Taiwan received a tip-off letter about the seminars and subsequently reported the matter to the Investigation Bureau's New Taipei field office.

Prosecutors said Lee was fully aware of his confidentiality obligations but allegedly reproduced and disclosed the proprietary information for personal financial gain, harming the company's interests, which led to his indictment on Monday.