Former Apple employee was sentenced for three years of prison. He must also pay over $19,000,000 in restitution after stealing $17 million through mail and wire scams. Dhirendra Prados, 55, initially charged in March 2022, pleaded guilty in to conspiring to steal $17 million from Apple through mail and wire fraud schemes in.
Prasad worked at Apple between 2008 and 2018. He was primarily a buyer, buying parts and services for the global supply chain. In his plea agreement, Prasad acknowledged that he began siphoning off money from Apple around 2011 through accepting kickbacks and stealing parts. He also admitted to inflating invoices and charging Apple fraudulently for goods which were never delivered. He admitted to evading taxes on the proceeds from his schemes, and conspiring with two vendors who were charged separately.
Prasad’s knowledge of Apple fraud detection techniques helped him avoid discovery.
The United States Department of Justice claims that Prasad used his position as an Apple buyer to exploit his insider knowledge of Apple’s fraud-detection techniques in order to hide his criminal activity. The DOJ said in a statement released on Wednesday that Prasad had a lot of discretion because of his Apple position. He was able to make decisions independently to benefit Apple. “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.”
Prasad admitted to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud United States. Prasad, in addition to his 3-year prison term, has agreed to repay $19,270.683 as restitutions – $17,398,104 Apple and $1.872,579 IRS for tax he owes. Prasad has been ordered to forfeit assets worth over $5.4million that the government already seized, and pay $8.1million in cash.
