More internal drama at HTC continues as a handful of HTCs employees were arrested earlier today on charges of fraudulent expenses and stealing trade secrets. The most notable names among those arrested are Thomas Chien (Vice President of Product Design, Wu Chien Hung Director of R&D and senior design team manager Justin Huang (responsible for the design of the HTC One).
The arrests were made following a personal complain by HTCs chairwoman Cher Wang. Those arrested had recently resigned from HTC after claiming their mid-year bonuses this week. The group of designers was in the process of setting up their own mobile design firm under the name Xiaoyu in mainland China. The complaint alleges the three men listed above contracted an external design firm to bill HTC for US$334,000 worth of commission fees for the design of the HTC One even though the phone was designed in-house. The money was collected between May and June of this year and split between the three. Thomas Chien is also accused of downloading files for HTCs upcoming Sense 6 UI and distributing them via e-mail to external contacts.
The arrests were made following a personal complain by HTCs chairwoman Cher Wang. Those arrested had recently resigned from HTC after claiming their mid-year bonuses this week. The group of designers was in the process of setting up their own mobile design firm under the name Xiaoyu in mainland China. The complaint alleges the three men listed above contracted an external design firm to bill HTC for US$334,000 worth of commission fees for the design of the HTC One even though the phone was designed in-house. The money was collected between May and June of this year and split between the three. Thomas Chien is also accused of downloading files for HTCs upcoming Sense 6 UI and distributing them via e-mail to external contacts.