Three former employees of Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s No. 2 automaker, have been indicted on charges of leaking confidential information to a Chinese competitor, Seoul prosecutors said Friday.

The suspects, including a former member of the board of directors surnamed Choi, are accused of sending computer files containing the automaker’s internal documents to Geely Automobile Holdings in June 2013, prosecutors said.

The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office said it has indicted the suspects without physical detention for allegedly violating the Criminal Protection of Trade Secret by Unfair Competition Prevention Law.

The documents contained detailed business plans of Kia Motors and its sister affiliate Hyundai Motor Co., including details of the technology used at its plants, prosecutors said.

Choi was approached by a former colleague, surnamed Yoo, who had been recruited to Geely after retiring from Kia Motors, prosecutors said, without disclosing the details of the financial transaction between the suspects. (Yonhap)