TOKYO: A former SoftBank Corp. employee suspected of stealing trade secrets had saved the information on a computer at his new workplace, informed sources said Thursday.

Kuniaki Aiba, 45, is suspected of stealing information regarding fifth-generation, or 5G, ultrahigh-speed communications technology from the major Japanese mobile phone operator. The information was found in his computer at Rakuten Mobile Inc., another Japanese mobile carrier, according to the sources.

It was also revealed that Aiba took some 170 data files from SoftBank in about 30 instances between late November to December 2019, immediately before he left the company, the sources said.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the possible usage of the SoftBank trade secrets at Rakuten Mobile.

Aiba was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of accessing a SoftBank server on Dec. 31, 2019 and emailing to himself a file containing information on 5G-related technology and efficient ways to build wireless base stations, in violation of the unfair competition prevention law.

According to the sources, the MPD searched Rakuten Mobile’s main office and the location where Aiba worked in August last year, and found in a seized computer information believed to have been stolen from SoftBank.

SoftBank plans to file a lawsuit demanding Rakuten Mobile dispose of the information, saying chances are high that the trade secrets were used for its mobile carrier business.

Meanwhile, the unit of major cybermall operator Rakuten Inc. said in a statement that it has not confirmed Aiba’s use of the information obtained from his former workplace in business operations at Rakuten Mobile.

JIJI Press