TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – An engineer at Delta Electronics Inc. received a prison sentence of 17 months suspended for three years after selling chip wafers he stole during his night shift, reports said Saturday (Sept. 14).

The man, surnamed Lin (林), 31, worked at the tech company’s plant in the Taoyuan district of Pingzhen. During three night shifts, he stole 9,980 wafers and sold them for NT$593,000 (US$18,550), per CNA.

The Taoyuan District Court ruled that Lin admitted to the crime and provided evidence true to the facts. He had also agreed with Delta to pay NT$1.4 million in compensation over 29 installments.

Lin’s actions proved he had shown remorse, so the court suspended the 17-months jail term for three years. If he interrupted the compensation payments, prosecutors could apply to revoke the suspension of the sentence.

However, Lin is still fighting another legal case. Posing as an employee on nine occasions after resigning from Quanta Computer Inc. in 2022, he reportedly stole NT$9.23 million worth of CPU and memory chips.