Taiwan Plans to Seize $28.5M in Assets from China’s Chip Designer VeriSilicon for "Illegal Operations"

Taiwan’s prosecutors plan to seize nearly $28.5 million in profits from China’s VeriSilicon Holdings Co., Ltd. for establishing a branch in the island without receiving permission to engage in IC design and other businesses.

Taiwan VeriSilicon is engaged in IC design, one-stop service and other businesses, and its finance and budget must be reported to VeriSilicon China regularly, CNA reported.

Shilin District Prosecutors Office has claimed that the chip designer never filed an application with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Investment Commission to operate in Taiwan, but used its Hong Kong affiliate to launch its business in 2014.

The company was supposed to get an approval for its financial, operations, and personnel policies from headquarters in Shanghai. Production data had to be reported to China, and Shanghai also had to review and give its approval for all chip design deals before they could go ahead.

Prosecutors say there was sufficient evidence to show VeriSilicon had broken laws regulating the operations of Chinese companies in Taiwan. They are charging Chan, manager of the company’s Taiwan office, and listed VeriSilicon founder Wayne Dai, an American citizen, as a wanted person. They also planned to seize $28.5 million in profits made from the launch of the Taiwan office from 2014 to 2021, the report said.