Around fifty Apple employees have been fired from the company for allegedly defrauding it through its Matching Grants program, in which the company matches charitable donations made by its employees.
Six former Apple Bay Area employees have been charged with tax fraud connected to the fake donations so far.
The alleged ringleader of the fraudsters, Siu Kei Kwan, had five employees make donations to two organizations he was involved in.
Kwan was CEO of Hop4Kids and an accountant for the American Chinese International Cultural Exchange, so he had privileged access to both organizations’ donations. When Yathei Yuen, Yat C Ng, Wentao Li, Lichao Ni, and Zheng Chang made thousands in donations, Apple would match it, they would be refunded, and Kwan would pocket Apple’s matched amount.
Apple’s program will match 100% or 200% of a donation made to select programs. And to ensure all parties involved profited, Kwan offered services to defraud tax returns to ensure they’d still get credit for their refunded donations.
India Today reports that around 50 employees have been fired, and six of them have so far been charged with criminal offenses.
The allegations suggest that some employees, in collaboration with specific nonprofit organisations — including associations reportedly linked to the Indian community — falsified donations to exploit the program.
According to these claims, employees donated funds to nonprofits, which were then matched by Apple. However, the nonprofits allegedly funnelled the original donations back to the employees, allowing them to retain Apple’s matching contributions. If accurate, this would not only breach corporate policies but also violate US tax laws, as the employees’ false claims could amount to tax fraud.
The charges relate to approximately $152k over a period of three years.