Former Asahi Kasei executive arrested for allegedly passing semiconductor adhesive secrets to China

Nagoya police have taken into custody Shoichi Furukawa, a 66-year-old former senior staff member of Asahi Kasei Corp., on charges of illicitly disclosing proprietary adhesive technology used in semiconductor production. Furukawa, who oversaw the company's manufacturing technology department before departing at the end of November 2018, is accused of retaining a digital storage medium that held data on Novacure, a classified latent curing agent.

According to investigators, he sent the material to an individual linked to a Chinese enterprise around September 13, 2024. A subsequent raid on his residence yielded a computer that corroborated the theft of trade secrets. The Aichi prefectural police have not indicated whether Furukawa has entered a plea. This case follows a prior consultation by a Nagoya-based firm in August 2024 regarding a separate suspected leak involving the same individual.