The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Northern California said a former Apple employee was convicted of mail and electronic fraud related to other crimes that defrauded the company of more than $17 million. Employee Dhirendra Prasad was found guilty on Tuesday, November 1, of financial crimes, including conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Prasad worked for the Cupertino-based company in the global service supply chain department from 2008 to 2018, overseeing the supply of parts and services for the company.

Prasad’s written statement said he started defrauding Apple in 2011 by stealing, taking commissions (he’s not the first to do this) and inflating bills. Two more people, Robert Gary Hansen and Don M. Baker, were named as accomplices. They were accused of being complicit in the crimes and confessed.

As an example of one method, Prasad shipped motherboards from Apple to a company owned by Baker. The components were then disassembled and sold back to Apple, with all proceeds split between the three. Prasad also engaged in tax fraud by sending payments from Hansen to Prasad’s creditors. In doing so, the shell company cost the IRS more than $1.8 million by issuing false invoices to hide payments, allowing hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax cuts to be claimed.

Prasad was charged in the United States with up to 20 years in prison for mail and electronic fraud and an additional five years for electronic fraud. The hearing is currently set for March 14, 2023, and the court also agreed to forfeit the defendant’s $5 million in assets purchased with proceeds. Apple has not yet made an official statement regarding this situation.