Former Executive Vice President Ahn Seung-ho, who was indicted on charges of stealing internal confidential data from Samsung Electronics and filing a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung Electronics in the United States based on it, was sentenced to three years in prison at the first trial. The court did not revoke Ahn's bail.
The Criminal Agreement Division 28 of the Seoul Central District Court (presiding judge Han Dae-gyun, Director General) on the 11th sentenced former Executive Vice President Ahn, who was indicted on charges including violating the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act (leaking trade secrets), to three years in prison. A person surnamed Lee, a former application group leader at Samsung Display who was indicted together, was sentenced to three years in prison and a forfeiture of about 530 million won, and a person surnamed Lee, a former employee of the Samsung Electronics IP Center, was sentenced to two years in prison.
The court said in its sentencing reasons that although the defendants are first-time offenders with no prior criminal record, they used the corporations' trade secrets of their employer for personal gain, harming the corporations and adversely affecting transaction order.
Regarding the Tekiya-related pending issues report, which was in dispute, the court found that it constituted a trade secret and found the related charges guilty. The court explained that the report contained content that multiple departments, including the Samsung Electronics IP Center, Technology Analysis Team, and Legal Team, analyzed over several months, investing effort and expense, and that if the opposing party obtained it, the information could place them in a more advantageous position than Samsung Electronics in negotiations or litigation.
It was found that Ahn served as head of the Samsung Electronics IP Center from 2010 to 2018, left the company in 2019, and founded a non-practicing entity (NPE). Prosecutors detained and indicted Ahn on charges of conspiring with internal employees to siphon off key confidential data and, using it, filing a lawsuit in a U.S. court together with Tekiya, arguing that Samsung Electronics had used without authorization Tekiya's audio recording device patents and others for audio equipment. Ahn was released on bail in 2024 and has stood trial without detention.