There’s a lot of money in iPhone accessories, but one midlevel Apple manager may have taken things too far after he managed to make over $1 million in kickbacks for supplying Asian suppliers and manufacturers insider information about new products and other internal decisions.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Paul Shin Devine — a global supply chain manager within Apple — used an elaborate network of national and foreign bank accounts as well as a front company to receive payments for his information. He has since been arrested and named in a 23-count federal grand jury indictment for wire fraud and money laundering. The Asian accessory manufacturers with whom Devine did business have not been named.
Needless to say, Apple’s none too happy about this:
“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.”
In fact, Apple has so little tolerance for these sorts of shady ethics that they have filed a separate civil lawsuit against Devine. Even if he escapes prison, Devine is going to be sued into a gelatin slurry by his former employers.
Somehow, I’m guessing Devine didn’t quite think this through all the way.
