Prosecutors say a former Apple employee has been sentenced to three years in prison and nearly $33 million in restitution for defrauding the company by double-charging for parts, totaling $17 million.
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Dhirendra Prasad pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and defraud the United States in 2022.
Prasad, 55, is from Mountain House , California , and worked as a buyer in Apple's Global Service Supply Chain unit for ten years, from 2008 to 2018. Along with two other co-conspirators who owned Apple supplier companies, Prasad charged Apple for parts it already owned or had already purchased.
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The Apple employee said his scheme began in 2011. Over eight years, the scam generated more than $17 million. Prasad created fake accounts, also known as “fake invoices,” that allowed Don Baker, one of his accomplices, to receive more than $1.8 million in illegal tax deduction rulings.
“ Prasad Prasad betrayed that trust and abused his power to enrich himself at the expense of employer his had the discretion to make autonomous decisions for the benefit of his employer ,” federal prosecutors and Internal Revenue Service investigators said in a statement Wednesday. “ .”
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In addition to the prison sentence, the Apple employee will be ordered to forfeit $5.5 million worth of assets, pay $8.1 million in restitution, and must reimburse Apple $17.4 million and the IRS $1.9 million.
