A former Apple employee has admitted to stealing more than $17 million from the tech company, the U.S. Attorney’s Office made the statement.
On Tuesday, Dhirendra Prasad pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to commit fraud and conspiring to defraud the U.S. These crimes were linked to schemes that defrauded Apple, his former employer, the U.S. government, and others. The North District Attorney’s Office in California said in a news release.
In a written plea agreement, 52-year-old Prasad from Mountain House, California, talked about the different plans, the release said. From 2008 to 2018, Prasad said he mainly worked as a buyer in Apple’s Global Service Supply Chain.
“Prasad admitted he began to defraud Apple as early as 2011 by taking kickbacks, inflating invoices, stealing parts, and causing Apple to pay for items and services never received. Prasad admitted these schemes continued through 2018 and ultimately resulted in Apple losing more than $17 million.”
In his plea deal, Prasad also named Robert Gary Hansen and Don M. Baker as his partners in crime. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Hansen and Baker had been charged in separate federal cases. Both owned outside vendor companies that did business with Apple.
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In a statement released Tuesday, federal prosecutors gave several examples of Prasad’s fraud. In 2016, for instance, Prasad set up Apple parts to be sent to Hansen’s warehouse, where they were repackaged and sold back to Apple.
The United States also started a civil forfeiture action, which meant that Prasad had to give up the properties and other things he had bought with the money from the fraud.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote, “These assets are worth about $5 million.” On Tuesday, “Prasad agreed to give all the money and property to the U.S.”
Next March, Prasad will get his sentence, and he could go to prison for more than 20 years.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Prasad is still free until his sentencing hearing.
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