Two Malaysian employees charged with forging documents, which caused millions of dollars company losses

Two Malaysian former employees of U.S. computer maker Dell Inc. were charged with forging documents, causing millions of dollars (euros) in losses to the company, a court official and news reports said Friday. The pair had taken new jobs at a Chinese company there, the paper said.

Ng Chiun Khoon, previously manager at Dell's plant in Malaysia's northern Penang state, and former technician Tan Boon Hoe were arrested Sept. 22 in China's southern province of Guizhou, the New Straits Times newspaper reported.

The pair was handed to Malaysian authorities on Tuesday, it said.

The two were charged in the Penang Magistrate's Court on Thursday for the theft and forgery of thousands of computer security labels and requisition forms between June and September 2003, causing losses totaling 14 million ringgit (Ђ3.7 million; Ђ3.1 million) to Dell, the report said.

A court official in Penang confirmed that the two men had been charged, according to the AP.

The two, who have been freed on bail, face up to seven years in prison and a fine if convicted. Hearings were scheduled for Sept. 12, 2006, the report said.

T.E.