A former ASML and NXP semiconductor engineer has been sentenced to three years in prison by a Dutch court after being found guilty of sharing sensitive IP from his former employers with a Russian contact.

The defendant, 43-year-old German Aksenov, was convicted of computer intrusion and illegally providing technical assistance to Russia.

Aksenov was accused of selling stolen design manuals from his former employers and sharing files containing information about equipment needed for semiconductor manufacturing alongside product set up processes with an unnamed source in Russia via Signal, Telegram, and Google Drive.

Aksenov has remained in custody since he was first arrested in August 2024. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of four years, but the court reduced it as it could not be proven that he had been paid for sharing the confidential business information.

However, prosecutors had previously alleged Aksenov made €40,000 ($44,000) as a result of passing along the information.

In a statement to multiple news outlets, NXP said: “NXP has a zero-tolerance policy towards data theft and embezzlement. We cooperated with the prosecutor's offices throughout this process.”

ASML did not respond to those same outlets’ requests for comment.