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HTC has struggled to keep up with the competition over the past few years, and now a few employees are in hot water for leaking information outside of the company, which is only going to make matters worse. According to The Wall Street Journal, several HTC employees were indicted in Taiwan on Friday.

The employees, including at least one senior executive – Thomas Chien – are being charged with "leaking company secrets, taking kickbacks and falsifying expenses," The Wall Street Journal explained. Chien serves as HTC's vice president of design and had apparently leaked early builds of its next user interface to a group of people in China that are starting a new company. The firm wasn't named, but we assume that the software Chien leaked was the next version of Sense, which will likely launch on the company's next flagship smartphone.

"The company expects employees to observe and practice the highest levels of integrity and ethics," HTC said in a statement to TechnoBuffalo. "Protecting the company's proprietary and intellectual properties, privacy and security is a core fundamental responsibility of every employee.  The company does not condone any violation."

HTC was first suspicious of Chien in August when it filed an official complaint with Taiwan's authorities. Chien was largely credited with the design of the HTC One, so he holds a pretty significant role within the company… or at least once did.