Ex-Apple Manager Pleads Guilty to Taking Kickbacks

Posted 03/01/2011 at 10:56am | by Paul Lilly

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A former Apple employee pleaded guilty to a variety of charges related to a kickback scheme, including wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today. Paul Devine worked at Apple from 2005 through 2010 and admitted to transferring the proceeds of the wire fraud between different bank accounts in the U.S. and overseas in order to hide what he was doing.

As part of the scheme, Devine coughed up confidential information, like product forecasts and roadmaps, to Apple's business partners, suppliers, and manufacturers of Apple parts. Suppliers and manufacturers paid Devine kickbacks in return, including payments calculated as a percentage of the business they did with Apple. As part of the plea agreement, Devine said the scheme cost Apple more than $2.4 million.

Devine was originally charged with fifteen counts of wire fraud, one count of wire fraud conspiracy, six counts of money laundering, and one count of engaging in transactions with criminally derived proceeds. He pled guilty to one count of each statutory violation as part of the plea agreement. Sentencing is scheduled for June 6, 2011.