A group of five Amazon employees working at a distribution center in Madrid, Spain, have been arrested for allegedly stealing money from iPhones. The operation is believed to have involved the five Amazon employees in the theft of goods worth a total of around $592,000 (€500,000).
The arrests came after Amazon's own internal investigation found that there were problems with some packages sent to customers, with some weighing more than expected. The discrepancies prompted Amazon to install hidden cameras , which caught the perpetrators red-handed switching iPhones with other items.
Specifically, Amazon's investigation confirmed that its employees were secretly placing orders for new iPhones, including the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, replacing the actual ordered contents of a package at the last minute. According to iPadizate, the orders are believed to have been placed by an accomplice.
Three of the five people involved in the theft were arrested while leaving work, the fourth was arrested while working at the company at night, and the fifth turned himself in to police. All five have already been fired from Amazon and are awaiting trial.
At the time of their arrest, the employees were in possession of ten iPhones, intended to be shipped using the same method. They also had a large number of labels with the IMEI numbers of the different phones, seemingly torn from boxes to mislead the police investigation.
Investigations are continuing to examine where the iPhones that were sent ended up, and further arrests.
The popularity and exceptional nature of iPhones make them a target for theft. In March, iPhones worth a total of €3 million were stolen from Amsterdam's Schipol Airport, followed by the theft of Apple Watches worth a total of €530,000 in May.
