Yuh-Yue Chen, 52, of Taiwan, formerly of Irvine, California, surrendered today on federal charges alleging he stole confidential financial data from his employer, Skyworks Solutions, Inc., and used it to pocket $484,645 in illegal stock profits. The semiconductor engineer is charged with one count of insider trading, a felony carrying up to 20 years in federal prison.
Chen worked as an electrical principal engineer at Skyworks from 2003 until his termination in September 2014. The Woburn, Massachusetts-based company, which operates a design center in Irvine, repeatedly warned employees against trading on non-public information. Despite this, and his lack of authorized access to earnings data, Chen allegedly broke in digitally to the company’s finance network on July 14, 2014—four separate times.
The next day, armed with unreleased financial results, Chen bought 1,300 $48 call options at an average price of $1.90. When Skyworks announced strong quarterly earnings after market close on July 17, the stock jumped from $46.34 to $50.11 per share. By July 18, Chen had sold his options at $3.36 each, cashing in approximately $484,645 in illicit gains, according to an affidavit filed by the DOJ.
Chen’s downfall began on September 15, 2014, when two Skyworks employees spotted him ransacking the restricted accounting and finance office in the Irvine building’s parking lot after hours. When confronted, Chen fled through a side door and vanished into nearby bushes. He never returned to work. Five days later, he boarded a flight from LAX to Taipei without notifying his employer.
Skyworks fired Chen on September 30, 2014, after an internal probe found him evasive. When he mailed back his company-issued laptop, investigators found it had been wiped clean—no files, no records. The breach and escape were red flags that triggered a federal investigation led by the FBI.
On March 29, 2019, law enforcement confronted Chen at Los Angeles International Airport. This time, he didn’t run. He confessed to the insider trades. The criminal complaint was unsealed this week. Chen is scheduled to appear this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. Separately, the SEC filed a civil lawsuit last month accusing him of the same misconduct. A complaint is not a conviction—Chen is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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