Apple Employee Indicted for Taking Kickbacks in Exchange for Disclosing Confidential Information

Charges were filed against Apple's global supply manager Paul Shin Devine last Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to court documents. Several news reports said Devine was arrested Friday.

Devine was accused of accepting $1 million in kickbacks from half a dozen Asian suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories in a federal indictment and a civil suit, the San Jose Mercury News reported. Devine allegedly was paid for sharing confidential Apple information with contractors that helped them win Apple business on favorable terms, the paper said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Devine gave confidential information to companies like Cresyn in South Korea, Kaedar Electronics in China and Jin Li Mould Manufacturing in Singapore. He allegedly shared the kickbacks with Andrew Ang, an employee of Jin Li who the indictment charges helped broker deals with his employer and others.