A former Apple global supply manager has been charged "in a federal grand jury indictment of offences that include wire fraud, money laundering and unlawful monetary transactions".

It is alleged that Paul Shin Devine has been receiving kickbacks totalling up to $1 million from six different Asian suppliers, in exchange for confidential Apple info regarding parts that the Cupertino-based company would be interested in buying for the iPod and the iPhone.

Devine was arrested on Friday as part of an indictment that also named Andrew Ang who was employed by one of Apple's suppliers.

The Wall Street Journal names three of the suppliers involved as Kaedar Electronics Co, Cresyn Co and Jin Li Mould Manufacturing Pte.

Apple is also taking its own legal action against Devine - the tech giant has named its former employee in a civil suit filed on Friday at the US District Court in San Jose, California.

The finer details of the lawsuits have yet to emerge, but the news just adds to a rotten spell of PR for Apple.

The iPhone 4, despite its huge sales, has come under intense scrutiny due to its death grip issues and the firm has also been mentioned in several reports regarding poor working conditions at its outsourced manufacturing partner's plant in Shenzhen.

Not exactly what Jobs and the gang had planned for 2010. It was all supposed to be "magic".

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Via: online.wsj.com

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