Fraud can often be very simple. And this take over from Apple seems particularly clever and insidious. Apple has reportedly fired 185 employees at its headquarters in Cupertino after it discovered that these employees were involved in monetary fraud to increase their compensation. Six of the fired employees have been named by Bay Area authorities and warrants have been issued against them. Although none of the six are Indians, another report suggests that several of the fired employees are Indians who were allegedly misusing some Telugu charity organizations in the US to perpetrate fraud.

Apple has fired several employees from its Bay Area offices due to abuse of its matching grant program, NBC reported, citing the District Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Apple has not released any official statement on the matter and we were also unable to independently verify the information.

The reported plan revolves around Apple’s Matching Grant Program, a corporate social responsibility initiative designed to increase employees’ charitable contributions by matching their donations to nonprofit organizations. The allegations reveal that certain employees, in collaboration with specific non-profit organizations – including those allegedly associated with the Indian community – misappropriated donations to take advantage of the program.

According to these claims, employees donated funds to non-profits, which were later matched by Apple. However, the nonprofits reportedly redirected the original donations back to the employees, allowing them to retain Apple’s matching contribution. If true, this would not only be a violation of corporate policies, but also US tax laws, as false claims by employees could amount to tax fraud.

According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, six individuals defrauded Apple of approximately $152,000 over three years by falsely claiming donations to two nonprofits – the American Chinese International Cultural Exchange (ACICE) and Hop4Kids.

The accused persons include:

-Siu Kei (Alex) Kwan, 37, of Castro Valley
-Ythei (Hesson) Yuen, 34, of San Jose
-Yat C (Sunny) Ng, 35, of Milpitas
-Wentao (Victor) Lee, 38, of Hayward
-Lichao Ni, 39, of Sunnyvale
-Zheng Chang, 31, of Union City

According to the DA’s office, Kwan, identified as the ringleader, served as both the CEO of Hop4Kids and ACICE’s accountant. The scheme reportedly involved employees pretending to make donations, which were later returned to them. Kwan retained Apple’s matching contributions and also forgave these fictitious donations on the defendants’ tax returns, defrauding the State of California in the process.

A separate report from Great Andhra states that a total of 185 Apple employees have been fired, although current officials have only released details of 6 whom they have accused of certain crimes. It has been said in this report that many Indians are also among the laid off employees. The report claims that these Indians abused Apple’s matching grants program, a corporate social responsibility initiative designed to increase employees’ charitable contributions by matching them with non-profit organizations. The allegations reveal that some employees, in collaboration with specific non-profit organizations – including those allegedly associated with Telugu employees – misappropriated donations to take advantage of the program.