TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — New Taipei City prosecutors said Friday (July 15) that Chinese company Luxshare Precision Industry Ltd. had stolen business secrets from a Taiwanese firm that works with tech giant Apple.

Fourteen people have been charged in the case, per a Reuters report. It was determined that they poached staff from local company Catcher Technology Ltd., were in breach of trust, and intended to steal commercial secrets.

The case was brought against the background of illegal activities by Chinese companies to steal tech know-how from Taiwanese firms. Luxshare stands accused of inducing Catcher staff to join its company with the lure of high wages and with the intention of winning orders from Apple at the expense of Catcher.

New Taipei prosecutors were quoted as saying: "The department will do its best to investigate such cases to maintain the sound development of our country's enterprises and ensure the competitiveness of national industries."Catcher makes iPhone and iPad cases. It is cooperating with the authorities in their inquiries.

On May 10, Chinese companies were raided after being suspected of poaching chip engineers. Taiwan is working to prevent proprietary technology, especially chip production, from falling into Chinese hands.

In April, the Taiwan Investigation Bureau said it would be looking at 100 Chinese firms and entities suspected of poaching tech talents and the theft of tech information.