Apple Manager Arrested In Kickback Scheme 218
pickens writes "A midlevel Apple manager was arrested Friday and accused of accepting more than $1 million in kickbacks from half a dozen Asian suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories in a federal indictment unsealed and a separate civil suit. 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. '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.' The alleged scheme used an elaborate chain of US and foreign bank accounts and one front company to receive payments, the indictment said, and code words like 'sample' were used to refer to the payments so that Apple co-workers wouldn't become suspicious."
highest ethical standards (Score:5, Insightful)
'Apple is committed to the highest ethical standards in the way we do business,' . That's why we manufacture in China.
Re:highest ethical standards (Score:3, Insightful)
There are more ethical business people in China than the United States. There's lots more unethical ones too.
Re:highest ethical standards (Score:5, Insightful)
Not with Apple (Score:4, Insightful)
Somewhat inevitable? (Score:2, Insightful)
Where there is excessive control, there's plenty of place for corruption/etc.
back dated options, anyone? (Score:5, Insightful)
'We have zero tolerance for dishonest behavior inside or outside the company.'
*cough*
back dated options
*cough*
but no zero tolerance for Foxconn? (Score:2, Insightful)
but no zero tolerance for Foxconn?
Re:but no zero tolerance for Foxconn? (Score:3, Insightful)
What give out confidential information about there own company so their suppliers could get better deals. Or do you mean the suppliers paying the bribes for inside information, that would make more sense; you where't clear.
Everything you use are made in Switzerland? (Score:1, Insightful)
Dear AC,
It is your type who goes to newegg.com, set the sorting to cheapest to most expensive and pick the cheapest one.
Apple could be hypocrite but people buying things who are just 10 dollars cheaper and bitching/whining as AC or some chit chat at Starbucks are more disgusting.
Re:Not with Apple (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:highest ethical standards (Score:4, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Somewhat inevitable? (Score:3, Insightful)
While I detest Apple's products and tactics as a company, I don't think they're any more (or less) prone to corruption than any other company. So, either it's specifically and unrealistically Apple-bashing (there's so many better reasons), or it's a condemnation of government intervention in business (the excessive control), or it's a condemnation of EVERY business. All three of those are flamebait/trolling.
Re:Somewhat inevitable? (Score:4, Insightful)
Where there is excessive control, there's plenty of place for corruption/etc.
So a complete lack of control would lead to few places for corruption? Your argument makes absolutely no sense.
Re:heh (Score:0, Insightful)
Re:but no zero tolerance for Foxconn? (Score:1, Insightful)
You mis-interpret things. It's zero-tolerance for those who get caught.
As long as your do business in Asia, there are kickbacks for someone. Even the receptionist gets a kickback from the guy she called to fix the door handle. That's just how things are done.
No ethics violations - really? (Score:1, Insightful)
Before Apple makes such a statement about not accepting un-ethical business practices they may want to revisit the whole Jobs/Wozniak deal and why the latter "left" the company.
But of course Apple is the Eco Friendly Company that Does the Right Thing whenever they can! There is nary an anti-competitive bone in their body and they are fully Open and on for the ride in Open Source technologies!
Re:highest ethical standards (Score:3, Insightful)
Taking advantage of the highest technological systems in the world, and at the same time providing employment for poor peasants who will work for pennies per day...
Seems a little different now, doesn't it? All economic exchanges are based on exploiting others. You go to the store, and con the innocent shopkeeper to give you a gallon of milk for only $2. Meanwhile, the shopkeeper sells off one of his many gallons of milk to some schmuck for $2. At the end of the exchange, you both say "thank you", because you both feel like you've gotten the good end of the deal.
Rural villages in third-world countries making parts for American companies get the money they need to build their own infrastructure. Sure, they're getting paid less than a dollar a day, but the lineman installing electrical service is also getting paid that same rate. Everything just costs less there, for now, so everyone's happy. Except in extreme circumstances, nobody feels that they're getting exploited.
Check corporate officer pay instead (Score:3, Insightful)
"Blaming unions is the easy thing to do" - by CRCulver (715279) on Sunday August 15, @12:02AM (#33254852) Homepage
Agreed, because corporate officer pay is outrageous in larger corporate bodies (millions per week, and yes, I have seen payrolls in my time the last nearly 17 yrs. as an information systems worker who has done payrolls programming and reporting in numerous organizations). Fact is, quite a few corporate officers' personal pay on an annual INDIVIDUAL BASIS (e.g. CEO) often exceeds the entire payroll outlay of entire smaller companies. This is the insane fact no one ever seems to mention or note, and I often wonder why? Yea, right. We all know why and especially in publicly traded companies. It's because no one really gives a shit in publicly traded companies. It's not like how the Ford family looks over FORD MOTOR COMPANY or how Bill Gates looked after MICROSOFT when he was at the wheel there. They actually gave a damn about how the place is/was run (respectively) because their names and legacy were in their corporations. You don't see that in publicly held/traded companies. All those are is money making machines for stockholders (and mostly for those with preferred stock, such as upper mgt. and board of directors members as a couple examples thereof), and nothing more. So they cut corners like mad in product quality, sell consumers crap with a warranty on it (a warranty on a piece of shit doesn't make it any less of a piece of shit either), and underpay production workers (slaves is more like it) like crazy, those they have not managed to offshore/outsource that is to avoid insurances & higher pay levels that is, which only helps contribute to the erosion of a middle class in the USA so you only have the "haves/big money" and "have nots/no money-poor", which destroys any possibility of an "economy" (Peter buys from Paul, who pays Henry etc. & back around again type symbiosis), and which also makes it impossible to use your so-called "legal rights", because in case you have not noticed? Attorneys co$t, and cost a lot. This is an impossibility for the less fortunate, even though you're told you have legal rights (especially if indigent, unless in a court of law for a crime you're accused of then you get an attorney serving out his "sentence" of having to do a bit of time for society, not that they give a hoot then, though). So if someone slanders you for example? Good luck taking care of it "gratis" even though you have been blatantly wronged and when you have a definite winner of a case and your so-called 'legal rights'. No, the illusion of "equality" and "freedom" in the USA?? It's a pack of thinly veiled lies at best, and the "controllers" (the wealthy in large corporations and banks mostly) know it, and they use it like mad to conceal what is really fascism in the USA, today.
Re:highest ethical standards (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course it looks different when you change a couple key words. It's called "spin", and it's practiced daily by the newspapers and other media.
"Providing employment" suggests that people who had nothing can now make purchases, such as housing, automobiles, clothes, etc. In fact, "providing employment" often translates to a marginally better diet, and increased chances of survival. I point to Africa as a prime example. I'm quite sure that you can use Google to locate any number of stories about Gap jeans and other factories located in Africa. If anything, the overall quality of life has been degraded in some of those towns. Entire villages have been overwhelmed with unregulated refuse dumps, and their populations have been reduced to scavenging the dumps for survival.
China has it's own towns that have been inundated with waste dumps. I saw one set of photos from China of a home that nestled between piles of scrap and refuse, pretty much lost to view from any other home.
You call it "providing employment", I call it exploitation.
Re:Not with Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
They are going to use their budget to go after criminals who kill lots of people or do millions in damage first.
The average cop on the street is not involved in operations involving "criminals who kill lots of people or do millions in damage".
Re:highest ethical standards (Score:5, Insightful)
That's not the experience in the UK. They introduced a minimum wage in 1999, and increased it every year. For years after, employment went up, not down. None of the claims that businesses would go bankrupt, or stop employing certain categories of workers turned out to be true.
For sure there are problems with unemployment now because of the recession caused by the banking crisis. But that isn't caused by the minimum wage.
If you examine executive pay for public companies, you'll see that companies usually can afford to increase the payroll. It's just that the executives get to decide which part of the payroll to increase, and big surprise, they choose to pay themselves more, rather than increase the wages of the lowest level employees. It takes minimum wage legislation or unions to deal with this problem.
Re:heh (Score:1, Insightful)
Of course, the spokesperson forgot to mention that in such cases, "honesty" is defined by Apple.
(And it seems the fanboi army is already out with mod points, so I will lay down my weapons now)
Re:highest ethical standards (Score:4, Insightful)
dont forget 13 suicides + the attempted ones, and the over priced hardware sold in the US.
Apple is all about raping the people for as much profit as they can get away with.