Taipei: 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, was charged with violating the Trade Secrets Act and related offenses following an investigation triggered by an internal whistleblower report.
According to Focus Taiwan, 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. Avago Taiwan is a subsidiary of Broadcom Inc., a global semiconductor and infrastructure software company headquartered in California.
Prosecutors allege that Lee used a company-issued laptop to unlawfully access Avago's client order analysis system while employed there. He reportedly 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 further alleged that Lee reproduced internal meeting videos and presentation slides from quarterly briefings hosted by Broadcom's President and CEO Hock E. Tan and Charlie Kawwas, the president of the company's semiconductor solutions group.
Lee allegedly used screenshots and recordings to create files for his seminar presentations. Between January 2024 and March 2025, Lee reportedly held 85 seminars at venues across Taipei at the invitation of other companies. At these events, he 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 attendees.
Prosecutors stated that Lee earned NT$2.958 million (US$94,249) in speaking fees from the seminars. The case surfaced 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, which led to his indictment.