Here’s yet another case of Apple secrets being leaked, this time a more serious case that involves millions of dollars. Paul Devine, a former Apple Global supply manager has been accused of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, all of them related to selling Apple iPhone and component secrets.
The info went to Apple suppliers, allowing them to negotiate better deals and Paul got his share of the millions of dollars. The case was tried in 2010 and Apple announced back then that it has high ethical standards and won’t let anything like this happen ever again. The former employee got off easy, since he was looking at 20 years in prison, but got one, so he probably named some names.
He does have to also come up with $4.5 million somehow. Interestingly the companies that bought trade secrets from him were not named, but we’ve heard they’re material suppliers from China, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. I doubt we’ll hear of any other case like that anytime soon, since Apple must have boosted their secrecy.
via 9to5mac.com
