The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office disclosed charges against six former Apple Inc. employees on suspicions of exploiting charity matching funds for personal gain. The charged individuals allegedly orchestrated a deceitful practice to swindle California's state funds and Apple’s Matching Gifts Program over three years.
As per the District Attorney's announcement, the ruse conducted by this group of former employees involved defrauding Apple into matching non-existent donations intended for children’s charities. The focal point of this scam was Siu Kei (Alex) Kwan, who simultaneously held the positions of CEO at Hop4Kids and accountant for the American Chinese International Cultural Exchange (ACICE). These organizations were falsely presented as those receiving the donations.
As reported by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, the elaborate plot revolved around former Apple employees pretending to donate to the charities above while they were receiving their supposed donations back. Accomplice Kwan remained in possession of Apple's matching funds, funneling what should have been charitable contributions into his ventures.
Apart from Kwan, the identified defendants include Yathei (Hayson) Yuen, Yat C (Sunny) Ng, Wentao (Victor) Li, Lichao Ni, and Zheng Chang. All face serious felony charges like grand theft, conspiracy, perjury, and tax fraud, with the potential for hefty sanctions; they falsely claim substantial tax write-offs alongside the diverted funds. They are accused of illegally drawing close to $152,000 from Apple’s program and inflating their tax deductions with about $100,000 in bogus charitable contributions.
"This case underscores our unwavering commitment to rigorously prosecuting individuals who defraud the tech community and misuse vital charitable programs and state resources," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement, as cited by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. The misuse of a third-party platform called Benevity was revealed as the mechanism through which these fraudulent transactions were carried out, leading Apple to provide either a 100% or 200% match to the falsely reported donations. This manipulation, in effect, led to thievery from the tech giant and the State of California.
