A Chinese internet giant has accused a former employee of misconduct and corruption less than two days before the planned Nasdaq listing of the latter's company, scheduled for today. Tang Yan, CEO and founder of mobile dating app Momo, was accused by his former employer NetEase of stealing information and technology during his time at the firm between 2003 and 2011, "in severe violation" of the Labour Contract Law. The statement, released by NetEase early yesterday, alleged Tang had used those "stolen" resources to build his rapidly growing dating app - which now boasts 180 million registered users. "During his employment, Tang took advantage of his post to acquire various information and technological resources to help establish Momo," read the NetEase statement. NetEase also claimed Tang awarded lucrative contracts to a company founded by his wife during that period. "[He] delivered commercial benefits that are worth over a million yuan [HK$1.26 million] to a Beijing advertising company founded by his wife, Zhang Sichuan - conduct that gave rise to suspicion of non-governmental corruption," the firm said. Tang had held various editorial management roles at NetEase's flagship news portal, 163.com before becoming its editor-in-chief in April 2011 . Tang registered the company Momo in July 2011 and launched the application in August. He officially left NetEase in September the same year. Momo, backed by both e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba and classified ads website 58.com hopes to raise US$216 million in its American IPO, with a share price ranging between US$12.5 and US$14.5. "NetEase will reserve the right to take legal action over Tang's misconduct during his employment," the statement said. Responding to a Post inquiry on Wednesday, Momo said it was unable to comment on the allegations as it was in the middle of a "quiet period" required by US securities laws, which limit the information a company can make public ahead of its IPO. The allegations quickly became one of the hottest online and social media topics on the mainland yesterday. Some former NetEase employees came to Tang's defence, criticising NetEase for what they called a "character assassination" and a bid to wreck Momo's share sale. Among them was Li Yong, a former president of NetEase's news portal division and an investor in Momo, and Tang's ex-supervisor. Li said he gave Tang permission to devote off-work time to launching his personal business. Li left NetEase in 2012. Li said the advertising company founded by Tang's wife was awarded NetEase contracts through fair competition and provided satisfactory service.