Defendant Sentenced For Defrauding Apple for $17M

Whether the scale is small or large, it’s never a good idea to commit fraud — and if the total amount of money involved can be measured in eight figures, it can safely be described as an especially bad idea. The case of one Dhirendra Prasad, who was recently ordered to repay $19 million to Apple and the IRS, may prove instructive as to why.

As per an announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, Prasad was found guilty of multiple charges related to “taking kickbacks, stealing parts, inflating invoices, and causing Apple to pay for items and services it never received.”

Prasad, who was an Apple employee for a decade, was accused of conspiring with two external vendors to defraud Apple. His position involved buying materials used to repair older models of Apple computers and other products; all told, the amount he defrauded Apple for was in excess of $17 million. You’ll note that the IRS was invoked earlier; that’s because Prasad did not pay taxes on this amount.

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Paying back both his former employer and the IRS isn’t the only punishment that Prasad will receive; according to Engadget’s reporting, he’ll also be spending three years in prison, with another three years of supervised release to follow.