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“Paul Shin Devine, a global supply manager, and Andrew Ang, of Singapore, were named in a 23-count federal grand jury indictment for wire fraud, money laundering and kickbacks,” Carey reports. “‘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.'”
Carey reports, “The indictment describes a scheme in which Devine used his position at Apple to obtain confidential information, which he transmitted to Apple suppliers, including Ang. In return, the suppliers and manufacturers paid Devine kickbacks, which he shared with Ang. The information enabled the suppliers to negotiate favorable contracts with Apple, according to the indictment.”
Read more in the full article here.
Paul & Andrew…
Zero tolerance, baby.
You’ll soon find out why it’s called it the ‘slammer’.
Plug dat leak.
Did he think he could get away with that for very long?
Imagine what a few extra pennies per unit price probably cost apple. The damage would be far beyond just the money he accepted.
Good thing this guy is never gonna do time… u see he got all this money to get a goood lawyer.
Ooooooohhhhhhhhh
I bet mr. I only take $1 annual salary Jobs is piiiiiiiiiiissed
I’ll bet Steve jobs had first punch at him in the board room closet where they “questioned” him.
Ahhhhhh!!! So he’s the infamous WaWa sandwich guy!
Welcome to Asia, the rules here are there are no rules.
Outside the company???
They NOTHING to do with what goes on outside the company.
Scumbags.
Probably trying to get even.
His career is not over, he can easily go to MS and fit in the biz culture.
Amazing how stupid people are.
“They NOTHING to do with what goes on outside the company.”
Apple’s vendors and suppliers, idiot. And Apple has LOTS of say about how they conduct themselves.
Whatever you do, don’t ever think before you speak. Why break a lifelong habit like that?
@ Karlv
Clearly you know *nothing* — and I do mean *NOTHING* — about international business and U.S. law. By U.S. law you are responsible for doing due diligence on both your suppliers and customers. You are also responsible for the actions of your suppliers and vendors. I bet you’ve never heard of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. I bet you know nothing about where the U.S. fined BAE $400 million this past spring for violating this Act in conjunction with its consultants and distributors which involved illegal payments and “kickbacks”.
I bet you’ve never heard of the Anti-kickback laws the U.S. has on its books. The penalties for violating them are huge… against BOTH the individual and the company.
I bet you’ve never heard of the Commerce Control List for the violation of which the fines can be $20 million and 10 years in jail PER VIOLATION — and if there were 10 payments/transactions, that’s 10 violations.
Hell, for a short while certain Apple Macintosh models were on the U.S. Munitions List which has even more requirements for knowing both your vendors and customers — and in many cases your customers’ customers. (Remember the “National Security” ad Apple ran a while back?) But then, you know nothing about that, right?
There are many, many cases where it is not only ethically correct for Apple to keep tabs on both its suppliers and customers — there are many, many laws on the books that REQUIRE Apple to do so.
And I’ve only mentioned the U.S. laws. Most other countries have similar laws — many of them (though not all) carry penalties similar to or worse than those imposed by the U.S.
@Shadowsel
Don’t be naive. Laws are useless unless enforced.
A bad apple (doesn’t always) spoils the whole bucket…
@daugav369pils
“Laws are useless unless enforced.”
And this arrest is…… what?
In America, that would be called politics!
@Karlv,
You obviously don’t know my story of being fired for doing something outside of work that was accidentally discovered by my employer. It had nothing to do with my employer, I was not identified as an employee of that company, I wasn’t identified by name at all, and it wasn’t illegal, but I was still canned. Many people at this site do know the story.
1. Victimless crime. Stop wasting taxpayers’ dollars on it. Let the companies involved deal with it internally.
2. For the government to pursue this under the appearance that this sort of thing is any different to what goes on in all levels of government all of the time is insulting.
macguy
This is NOT a victimless crime. At least a $million was taken from the value of Apple Inc. and put in the pockets of criminals. It’s equivalent to breaking into your place of business and ripping $1M out of it. The government, in the form of law enforcement agencies must pursue this crime, and others. For it is not just this case, but the principle that business ethics are legally enforceable, or else we all live in a lawless jungle.
Bet this came out of Apple’s leaks investigations. And to all those that posted about US FCPA etc. dang right it’s a big deal, is pursued very diligently, & rightfully so.
Bet this came out of Apple’s leaks investigations. And to all ose posting on US FCPA etc. – dang right – it’s a big deal, pursued vigorously, and rightfully so.
So much for “greed is good”.
@ daugav369pils
As SmartGuy said, “And this arrest is…… What?”
Also I mentioned the $400 million fine against BAE this past spring. I could also have mentioned a $100 million action against ITT. I could go on and list several cases of huge fines and jail time for individuals over th past decade.
Most governments do enforce these laws. Don’t be so naive as to think they don’t.
Good Job Apple for finding this leak! Now let’s hope Justice is served against this greedy little turd!
His career is not over, he can easily go to MS and fit in the biz culture. @ Jeff the Trader
———
I think he can go to Google because the culture there is anything goes.
What a slimeball.
Do you know that means he could have made Apple lose money and/or quality?
He’s giving the suppliers better negotiation power. So, Apple could have paid MORE per unit of iPhone, Mac, whatever. AND possibly could have made concessions to quality.
You know those things we didn’t get? Like for example, maybe that iPod camera thing, or whatever was allegedly pulled last minute, how do we know this was not because of this slimeball?
I can’t believe that anyone with the great opportunity to work at Apple can F it up so badly. Maybe just a real disciple of Gordon Gekko.
I am sure the guy got paid a great salary. Reminds me of “The smartest guys in the room.” Look who’s smarting now.
@themacguy
So, if you rob a bank for $1M it is a crime worth punishing. But if it is a “white collar” crime for the same $1M, it is “victimless”? That type of rationalization is responsible for all types of crimes including insurance fraud and medicare scams. It seems to me that if you track it far enough, there will always be a victim of some type.
Take Enron, for example. That criminal activity bankrupted a lot of people and drove some of them so suicide. That’s murder in my book, little different from an armed robbery resulting in deaths. But the rationalization makes it “feel” so much cleaner, doesn’t it.
These two Apple employees committed serious crimes. Nail them and get on with business.
@Jubei
Well, in this world there are every day few billion people who are throwing their lives away for money.
While in our countries, many innocent people are condemned to death, whereas those which make fortune dishonestly are more numerous and never get caught.
Graft and corruption are a way of life in the far east and have been for well over a thousand years, the USA is in comparison a rank amateur, however our government is closing the gap as quickly as possible. Vote against the incumbents in every election so the crooks have less time to do major damage to the country, or find a cave in the mountains and start your own country, the swiss did it and it works.
Paul Shin Devine has to pay more for his greediness. It’s pity.
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You are sorely mistaken if you think corruption in the USA is “amateurish” in comparison.
It could very well be the PINNACLE of corruption, whereas they are still amateurs in the far east