Former Apple employee admits to defrauding company of $17 million, federal prosecutors say

A former Apple employee has admitted to defrauding the tech company of more than $17 million, the US Attorney's Office has announced.

On November 1, Dhirendra Prasad pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States - linked to schemes that defrauded Apple, his former employer, the US Attorney's Office North District of California said in a release, according to USA Today.

Prasad, a 52-year-old from Mountain House, Calif., described the multiple schemes in a written plea agreement, the release said. Prasad said he worked for Apple from 2008 to 2018, mostly as a buyer in Apple’s Global Service Supply Chain.

"Prasad admitted he began to defraud Apple as early as 2011 by taking kickbacks, inflating invoices, stealing parts, and causing Apple to pay for items and services never received," federal prosecutors wrote.

"Prasad admitted these schemes continued through 2018 and ultimately resulted in a loss to Apple of more than $17 million," they continued.

Two co-conspirators were also identified by Prasad in his plea agreement: Robert Gary Hansen and Don M. Baker. Hansen and Baker, who each owned outside vendor companies that did business with Apple, were charged earlier in separate federal cases, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In the November 1 release, the federal prosecutors pointed to several examples of Prasad's fraudulent activity. In 2016, for example, Prasad arranged to have Apple components shipped to a warehouse of Hansen’s business, where they were repackaged and sold back to Apple - "thus billing Apple for its own components", the US Attorney's Office wrote.

The United States also instituted a civil forfeiture action – requiring Prasad to forfeit and give over assets he acquired with the fraud profits, including multiple properties.

"These assets have an aggregate value of approximately $5 million," the US Attorney's Office wrote. On November 1, "Prasad agreed to forfeit all the assets to the United States".

Prasad is set to be sentenced next March. He could face more than 20 years in prison.

Pending his sentencing hearing, Prasad remains out of custody, according to the US Attorney's Office.