Ex-Employee Admits Swindling Over $17M From Apple

Former Apple employee Dhirendra Prasad has plead guilty of scamming the tech giant during his tenure.

Executing his crimes from 2011 to 2018, Prasad was able to defraud the company out of over $17 million in his ten years with the company, according to Engadget.

The Former Parts Buyer Details The Conspiracy Against The Tech Giant

The United States Attorney's Office North District Of California writes that Prasad says he is guilty of mail and wire fraud charges in a conspiracy to commit fraud and defraud.

During his time with the tech giant as a buyer in the Global Service Supply chain department, he took kickbacks, inflated invoices, and stole parts from the company.

Because of this, Apple ended up paying millions for items and services that never made it to the company's inventory.

In a written plea agreement, the Mountain House, California resident names two of his co-conspirators, Robert Gary Hansen and Don M. Baker.

Hansen and Baker each owned their own companies, who sold and did business with Apple, and were charged for separate federal criminal cases earlier.

According to Prasad, he would ship motherboards from Apple's stocks to Baker's company CTrends, where the latter would pick apart the motherboards to get certain components.

Later on, the two would sell the same orders for parts to the multi-million tech company, filing inflated invoices that made Apple pay for its own inventory, Engadget reports.

In 2016, Prasad executed the same scheme with Hansen to leverage Quality Electronics Distributor's Inc., which was owned by Hansen.

Additionally, the former Apple employee set up a shell company to cover up and get Baker tax deductions that cost the Internal Revenue Service over $1.8 million.

CNET writes that due to his crimes, Prasad is facing 20 years in prison for fraud, and five more years for defrauding the state.

Furthermore, he has agreed to turn over $5 million worth of assets that he acquired from the conspiracy schemes.

Prasad's Sentencing Hearing Is Happening Next Year

While pleading guilty to his crimes warrants Prasad a maximum of 25 years in prison, Silicon Valley writes that Prasad can receive less time from federal court.

Prior to pleading guilty, the former parts buyer would have been charged with up to 70 years in federal prison for scamming Apple and the IRS, according to ABC News.

At the moment, Prasad is out of police custody through an agreement that a fine of $250,000 would be paid if he breaks the conditions of his release.

According to the United States Attorney's Office North District Of California, Judge Beth L. Freeman will be hearing Prasad's sentencing on March 14, 2023.

Assistant US Attorney Michael G. Pitman is prosecuting the case, while Assistant US Attorney Karen D. Beausey is standing for the US in the civil forfeiture action.

This prosecution is a result of the IRS-led criminal investigation, assisted by the Special Enforcement Program.