TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Delta Electronics Inc. said on Wednesday (May 10) a case of industrial espionage by a former employee only involved older electric vehicle (EV) battery technology.

The case emerged during an investigation into industrial espionage at another Taiwanese battery company, Phihong Technology, CNA reported. Prosecutors found one of the suspects was a former Delta employee who had passed on confidential information from the company to a Chinese technology firm, the report said.

Delta said the former staff member, surnamed Juan (阮), worked in its EV battery department from 2014 to 2018. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) and the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office discovered he was illegally taking intellectual property data from the company, Delta said.

However, because the data pertained to older products related to Tesla EV battery chargers, the alleged theft did not have a large impact on Delta’s current operations, the company said. The confidentiality of the investigation prevented the company from revealing more details.

Phihong Technology said it discovered irregularities under its cybersecurity management systems in 2021, leading it to notify authorities before confidential data was actually stolen.