An executive who deleted company files without authorization from a work laptop that was supposed to be returned after receiving a notice of dismissal has been sentenced to prison in the first trial.

According to legal circles today (Sept. 5), the Suwon District Court sentenced an executive identified as A, who was indicted on charges including damage to electronic records, violation of the Act on Prevention of Unfair Competition and Protection of Trade Secrets (disclosure of trade secrets, etc.), and breach of trust in the course of duties, to six months in prison.

A served as an executive managing an Indonesian waste-derived solid fuel production plant construction project at the victimized company from March 2022 to February of the following year.

A was put on trial for arbitrarily deleting some 1,600 work-related files right before returning the laptop to the company after receiving a dismissal notice in 2023.

During the trial, A claimed, "Ahead of leaving the company, I merely organized the folders and files I had used one by one using Windows Explorer, and had no intention of intentionally damaging them."

However, the court ruled, "Documents created within the scope of duties under the employment rules are all company assets, and the intent to arbitrarily delete data without consulting the company upon being requested to return the laptop is recognized."

The court also found A guilty of unauthorized leakage of trade secrets, noting that before deleting the massive amount of files, A copied and leaked about 60 files, including design drawings intended for submission to the client, onto a personal external hard drive.

However, the court explained the sentencing reasons, stating, "To give an opportunity for victim recovery and agreement, physical custody was not executed, and consideration was given to the fact that the defendant is elderly, has no criminal record exceeding a fine, and the scale of damage to the victim company is not excessively large."

(Photo: Yonhap News)