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Apple Supply Manager Arrested in Kickback Scheme Involving Accessories Manufacturers

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Apr 12, 2001
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The San Jose Mercury News reports that Paul Devine, a midlevel manager at Apple, has been arrested over his involvement in a scheme in which he provided Asian suppliers and manufacturers of iPod and iPhone accessories with confidential company information in exchange for over $1 million in kickbacks from the companies.
Paul Shin Devine, a global supply manager, and Andrew Ang, of Singapore, were named in a 23-count federal grand jury indictment for wire fraud, money laundering and kickbacks.

"Apple is committed to the highest ethical standards in the way we do business," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said in a statement. "We have zero tolerance for dishonest behavior inside or outside the company."

The alleged scheme used an elaborate chain of U.S. and foreign bank accounts and one front company to receive payments, the indictment said, and code words like "sample" were used to refer to the payments so that Apple co-workers wouldn't become suspicious.
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In addition to the criminal charges, Devine also faces a civil suit filed by Apple over the kickbacks he received from the suppliers, which have not been identified beyond their locations in various Asian countries including China, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Devine is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals and is set to appear in federal court in San Jose, California on Monday.

Article Link: Apple Supply Manager Arrested in Kickback Scheme Involving Accessories Manufacturers
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/08/15/apple-supply-manager-arrested-in-kickback-scheme-involving-accessories-manufacturers/
1 million in kickbacks? what are kickbacks? Sorry if this is a stupid question -_-
 
so dumb so dumb so dumb

when are these people going to realize that dipping in the cookie jar particularly at those levels just ain't worth it. I bet he could have legitimately earned the same amount of money he received from the kickbacks with minimal effort.

now is a very bad time to be unemployed.
 
flopticalcube said:
A bribe. $1 million.
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Not sure if bribe is the correct word.

Apple employee provided secret info to a third party that gave said third party a competitive advantage. The kickback is the money paid by the third party to the Apple employee for that information.

Bribe would be the situation if another Apple employee knew about this and wanted money to keep quiet.
 
fixmymac said:
Not sure if bribe is the correct word.

Apple employee provided secret info to a third party that gave said third party a competitive advantage. The kickback is the money paid by the third party to the Apple employee for that information.
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Meh, close enough. Money for information. In fact, kickback is not really appropriate. Its usually money making its way back to an employee of the company that the company originally paid. Apple paid nothing here, so no money is kicking back.
 
flopticalcube said:
I've always wondered how they made their accessories before the product launch.
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I have always thought that the information is sourced from official 3rd party suppliers. I would guess that someone working at an official supplier would be more likely to be swayed by some cash to pass on that info.

I am very surprised that information like this has leaked directly from Apple in this way. However, i strongly feel that Apple PR are behind some nuggets of info being released in order to stoke the rumour mill and generate some market research :-D
 
flopticalcube said:
Meh, close enough. Money for information. In fact, kickback is not really appropriate. Its usually money making its way back to an employee of the company that the company originally paid. Apple paid nothing here, so no money is kicking back.
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Too many words for the same bloody thing. English is a rubbish language!

The wrath of Jobs should be enough to scare anyone at Apple from misbehaving.
 
On first glance, I thought the article read "medieval manager." :eek: I pictured him using racks and manacles.

I wouldn't doubt that this is where many of the recent leaks have been coming from. It was quite unlike Apple to let so many secrets out. I can see one or two slipping by in a year, but it was as if the flood gates had opened.
 
What's truly sad about this is that it was all for naught. There still isn't a single third-party iPhone 4 case worth a damn in the marketplace. .
 
fixmymac said:
Not sure if bribe is the correct word.

Apple employee provided secret info to a third party that gave said third party a competitive advantage. The kickback is the money paid by the third party to the Apple employee for that information.

Bribe would be the situation if another Apple employee knew about this and wanted money to keep quiet.
Click to expand...

No, what you describe is blackmail. Bribes are monies paid for a favor.
 
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