Apple Store
Dhirendra Prasad, a 55-year-old former Apple employee from Mountain House in San Joaquin County, California, has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $19,270,683 in restitution for conspiring to defraud Apple of millions of dollars and for related tax crimes.
United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge Darren Lian announced the sentence handed down by United States District Judge Beth L. Freeman, earlier this week (via CNBC).
Prasad, who worked as a “buyer” in Apple’s Global Service Supply Chain, exploited his position to conspire with two separate Apple vendors. He took kickbacks, stole parts, inflated invoices, and caused Apple to pay for items and services it never received, resulting in a loss of more than $17,000,000 to the company. Prasad also evaded tax on the proceeds of his schemes.
According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, Prasad was given substantial discretion to make autonomous decisions for Apple’s benefit. However, he betrayed this trust and abused his power to enrich himself at the company’s expense, all while accepting significant compensation from Apple in the form of salary and bonuses.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Freeman ordered Prasad to forfeit over $5,491,713 worth of assets and pay an additional forfeiture money judgment of $8,133,005. Prasad is also required to pay $17,398,104 in restitution to Apple and $1,872,579 to the IRS and serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
Not sure how Prasad thought he could get away with over $19 million in fraud, especially when it’s dealing with Apple. Looks like he’ll be thinking twice while behind bars.
