Court sentences Russian man to 3 years in prison for passing Dutch tech files to Russia

The Rotterdam court sentenced 43-year-old Russian German A. to three years in prison on Thursday for sharing sensitive business information from ASML and NXP with Russia over a period of one and a half years. He did this by copying information from the servers of his employer. By doing so, A. violated the sanctions against Russia that have been in place since 2014. He was also found guilty of computer trespass.

“Providing advice to and sharing technology with Russia is extremely serious,” said the court. “It can contribute to the strengthening of military and strategic capacities of the country, which could have consequences for Ukraine and indirect consequences for international safety and stability.”

The suspect shared files containing information on setting up production lines for manufacturing microchips. It was never proven that A. sold the information, the court ruled. Hence why the sentence was lower than the four-and-a-half-year prison sentence recommendation by the prosecution.

Large numbers of ASML and NXP files were found at A.’s home. The court found it irrelevant that the information A. shared was outdated, because for a country that has a lower knowledge level, like Russia, it can still be valuable. "It must be prevented that a country at war can benefit from advanced knowledge," the court said.

A. denies having any contact with Russian intelligence or safety services. At the end of last year, he was given a 20-year entry ban to the Netherlands, which will take effect after his sentence.