The number of senior managers at companies who violate the obligation of fidelity and take advantage of their positions to convey benefits illegally in various forms is on the rise, Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People’s Court said on Tuesday.

The number of such cases increased in a string from two in 2010 to 22 in 2015, according to the court.

Altogether 37 of 61 such cases in the past six years happened in private firms and 12 took place in State-owned enterprises, where the unlawful behaviors were often related to corruption and triggered the loss of national assets, Gu Weiqiang, president of the court said.

The lawbreakers in the majority of these cases took office in more than one company so that they could steal business opportunities that originally belonged to one company and transfer them to another one, in which case they could get more benefits.

For example, in one case, a man surnamed Song worked as general manager of a food company and owned another food trade company together with his father. Song, taking advantage of his position, transferred a large number of orders received by the first company mentioned to the latter, causing economic loss.