55-year-old Dhirendra Prasad, an ex-Apple employee, has been given a 3-year prison sentence. He must also pay back $19 million in restitution for stealing close to $17 million from the company through mail and wire fraud operations.
In 2022, Prasad had pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraud Apple and other tax offenses.
He mostly worked as a buyer in Apple’s global service supply chain, buying parts and services from vendors. He was employed at the company from 2008 to 2018.
Plea documents note that Prasad confessed to accepting kickbacks, taking parts, inflating invoices, and fraudently charging Apple for goods that were never delivered. Additionally, he admitted to not paying taxes on the proceeds of his operation and teaming up with two vendor businesses. They have been charged in separate cases.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has said that Prasad used his position as a buyer and insider information in relation to the company’s fraud detection methods to attempt to conceal his criminal offenses.
In addition to having to serve a 3-year sentence, he will have to pay back $19,270,683 in restitution. This will comprise of $17,398,104 to Apple and $1,872,579 to the IRS for taxes he owes.
Not only that, but Prasad must also hand over $5.4 million in assets that the government has already taken and must pay an extra $8.1 million in cash.
