A group of six former Apple employees are being charged for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the tech giant through a fraudulent charity scheme lasting three years, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Tuesday.
Siu Kei “Alex” Kwan, 37, of Castro Valley; Yathei “Hayson” Yuen, 34, of San Jose; Yat C “Sunny” Ng, 35, of Milpitas; Wentao “Victor” Li, 38, of Hayward; Lichao Ni, 39, of Sunnyvale and Zheng Chang, 31, of Union City are being charged with grand theft, conspiracy to commit felony grand theft, perjury and tax fraud.
From July 2018 to April 2021, the D.A.’s office said, the employees conspired to get about $152,000 from the tech company through its gift-matching program and falsely reported $100,000 in charitable donations as tax deductions.
The scheme, according to prosecutors, began when the former employees would make fake donations to the American Chinese International Cultural Exchange or Hops4Kids. Apple would match 100% to 200% of the donations, which were made through Benevity, a third-party platform.
Kwan, one of the persons charged, used his position as chief executive of Hop4Kids and accountant for ACICE to reimburse the conspiring employees for their donations while keeping Apple’s matching funds for himself, the D.A.’s office said.
As a certified public accountant, Kwan allegedly prepared fraudulent tax returns, and encouraged other employees to participate in the scheme by offering free or discounted tax services, prosecutors say.
Due to the amount of money involved, the group could face charges under the aggravated white-collar crime enhancement — a sentencing enhancement that allows a judge to add prison time for white-collar crimes, or nonviolent crimes like fraud or embezzlement.
If convicted, the six former employees could face time in jail, be forced to pay back the stolen money, and be levied fines and fees.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The D.A.’s office is asking anyone with information about this case or others involving the misuse of charitable matching donations to contact their office or Investigator Justin DeOliveira at jdeoliveira@dao.sccgov.org.
