The former head of BelGaN’s research department is suspected of espionage. The arrest raises questions about the bankruptcy of the chip factory.
The suspect, H.L., was reportedly arrested by the public prosecutor’s office in May. The 52-year-old man with Belgian-Chinese nationality is suspected of a series of crimes, including espionage and the unlawful sharing of trade secrets. H.L. was head of the research department around 2021 when BelGaN was under Chinese management.
At the time, the suspect also held a management position at a Chinese company, Gankool, which developed almost exactly the same technology as BelGaN. According to investigators, H.L. deliberately leaked BelGaN’s trade secrets to the young Chinese company. The suspect’s lawyer disputes these allegations to De Standaard. Former BelGaN CEO Zhen Zhou is still being sought by the public prosecutor’s office for similar offenses.
The arrest also raises questions regarding the bankruptcy of BelGaN, declared bankrupt in 2024. Investigators suspect that H.L. and his associates were after the company’s technology and were not interested in BelGaN’s financial health. They allegedly wanted to make the company ‘disappear’ in order to bring the technology to China. At the time of bankruptcy, the chip factory was owned by the American company Onsemi.
New restart
Since last year, the BelGaN factory in Oudenaarde has made a new restart. This time under Belgian management: the Ghent-based company Thema Foundries B.V. intends to bake chips at the site once again. The new owner purchased the factory and equipment for 20 million euros and intends to focus on the production of photonic chips.
The former BelGaN site is the only place in Belgium where chips are actively produced, although our country is at the forefront of chip research with imec.