Internet engineer of JD.com surnamed Zheng is suspected of being a key member of the crime ring. [Photo: CCTV]

Investigators in China have made a breakthrough in their search for those who leaked 5 billion pieces of personal information from internet companies.

On March 7, the Ministry of Public Security disclosed a severe case of information stealing and said that 96 suspects had been arrested. The stolen information included details of internet accounts, usernames and passwords, phone numbers, and addresses.

　　Personal information allegedly stolen by the crime ring [Photo: CCTV]

Together with the Ministry, security teams from the JD.com e-commerce platform and the internet giant Tencent reportedly made a breakthrough in cracking the case on Friday, reported China Central TV.

From the investigation, CCTV reported that one main suspect, surnamed Zheng, emerged who turned out to be an internet engineer employed by JD.com. Zheng started work for the company in June 2016, but had worked for several well-known internet enterprises in China, including Amazon China and the micro-blogging site Sina Weibo.

　　Three main suspects of the crime ring who allegedly stole and illegally sold personal information online. [Photo: CCTV]

Staff at JD.com reported their suspicions to the police, amid accusations that he had been cooperating with a crime ring to steal and illegally sell personal information online.

According to the CCTV report, the crime ring hacked into servers in companies to illegally gather the information.

Apart from Zheng, two other suspects, surnamed Han and Weng, have also been detained.

The investigation is continuing.