Indian-origin ex-Apple employee ordered to repay over Rs 155 crore for defrauding iPhone maker

A former Apple employee has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of over $19 million (equivalent to approximately Rs 155.30 crore) for stealing around $17 million (equivalent to approximately Rs 139 crore) from the tech giant through mail and wire fraud schemes. Dhirendra Prasad, who worked for Apple between 2008 and 2018, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud Apple and related tax crimes in November 2021. He was charged in March 2022.

According to Prasad's written plea agreement, he started embezzling money from Apple in 2011 by accepting kickbacks, stealing parts, inflating invoices, and fraudulently charging the company for goods that were never delivered. He also admitted to evading taxes on the proceeds of his schemes and conspiring with the owners of two vendor companies, who have been charged in separate cases.

Prasad, who worked as a buyer in Apple's global service supply chain, exploited his position and insider knowledge of Apple's fraud detection techniques to try to conceal his criminal activities, according to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). "Prasad betrayed this trust and abused his power to enrich himself at his employer's expense - all while accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of compensation from Apple in the form of salary and bonuses," the DOJ said in a statement.

In addition to his prison sentence, Prasad has been ordered to pay back $19,270,683 in restitution, with $17,398,104 going to Apple and $1,872,579 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the taxes he owes. Additionally, he has been instructed to surrender assets worth more than $5.4 million that the government has already confiscated and pay an extra $8.1 million in cash.

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