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An Apple manager was arrested on Friday due to being accused of accepting a large amount of kickbacks in the form of $1 million, from various Asian suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories. This comes from a federal indictment unsealed, as well as a separate civil suit, according to The San Jose Mercury News.
A global supply manager, Paul Shin Devine, and Andrew Ang, of Singapore, were both named in the 23-count federal grand jury indictment for wire fraud, money laundering as well as kickbacks.
Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said in a statement, "Apple is committed to the highest ethical standards in the way we do business." He continued, "we have zero tolerance for dishonest behavior inside or outside the company."
A large chain of U.S. and foreign banks were to be used in the alleged scheme, and one front company would receive payments, according to the indictment. Code words such as "sample" were used referring to the payments, with the hopes that Apple co-workers wouldn't let on. The indictment also goes on to say that Devine had used his position within Apple in order to obtain information that was to be confidential, which was then transmitted to various Apple suppliers, like Ang.
In exchange, the various suppliers/manufacturers would pay Devine kickbacks, which were then told to Ang. Because of this, the leaked information would allow the suppliers and manufactures to negotiate contracts that would work to their favor with Apple.
Separately in a civil suit, Apple sued Devine, claiming he received more than a million in "payments, kickbacks and bribes" during the years.
Devine, 37, of Sunnydale is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, according to the IRS. He is scheduled to appear Monday at 1:30 p.m. in the U.S. Northern District Court in San Jose. He wasn't able to be reached for comment, and IRS Agent Arlette Lee had declined to comment on where Ang was located.
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