In brief: An ex-Apple employee who spent a decade as a buyer in the company's Global Service Supply Chain department has been charged with defrauding Cupertino out of more than $10 million by taking kickbacks, stealing equipment, and laundering money.
A federal criminal case claims that Dhirendra Prasad, 52, abused his position to defraud Apple through several schemes, including stealing parts using false repair orders and causing the tech giant to pay for goods and services it never received. Prosecutors estimate Apple's losses as a result of Prasad's alleged actions during the ten years he worked there (December 2008 to December 2018) to be around $10 million.
Using a court order, the federal government seized five real estate properties and financial accounts from Prasad worth around $5 million that are linked to the alleged criminal activities. The US Attorney's office in San Jose said the government would seek to keep the assets as proceeds of crime.
Prosecutors said that two owners of vendor companies that did business with Apple have admitted conspiring with Prasad to commit fraud and launder money.
Prasad is scheduled to appear in the US District Court in San Jose this Thursday, where he will face charges of engaging in a conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. Each charge carries a sentence of five to twenty years imprisonment, though ABC notes that most people convicted of fraud receive less than the maximum sentence.
Last month brought news of a Chinese national who was sentenced to 26 months time served in prison after he tricked Apple into giving him more than $1 million worth of iPhones by sending fakes to Cupertino's warranty replacement program. Unlike like this latest case, however, that person never worked for Apple.
Center photo by Matthew Ansley