Telecommunications Investigation of espionage which was aimed at Telekom
BONN · An employee is accused of taking 150,000 euro to pass on information to a Chinese firm.
Legal authorities in Bonn are investigating allegations of espionage which was aimed at Deutsche Telekom. “Rheinische Post” reported that a manager of the Chinese telecommunications corporation ZTE bribed a Telekom employee to gain classified information. It is alleged that the employee was paid 150,000 euros.
Telekom confirmed a “compliance violation by an employee from the purchasing company BuyIn.” Because of investigations, Telekom would not comment on what kind of information was breached. Deutsche Telekom said they expected a full explanation from ZTE, one of China’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturers.
BuyIn has filed a complaint and the employee is no longer with the company. Also being investigated on suspicion of bribery are two ZTE managers. Deutsche Telekom has filed criminal charges against both of them, who apparently have gone into hiding. At a raid in February, they both disappeared and it was said that their offices had been unusually well cleaned up.
At the ZTE head office in China, the corporation said it would fully cooperate with Telekom to provide an explanation for what happened. The telecommunications manufacturer said it first learned of the charges in the report from the “Rheinische Post.”
(Orig. text: Nadine Klees)
