- Managers from Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory are allegedly involved in the fraud
- Reports say that there have been many similar types of instances with iPhones this year
Image for representation (pic credit-pixabay)According to media reports, Apple’s Taiwan-based manufacturing partner Foxconn has come to know of a probable fraud. This fraud involved some managers at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory. As per reports, these managers helped a Taiwanese businessman to “obtain and assemble” flawed iPhone components.
As per reports, the businessman did this to sell knockoff iPhones. Over the past three years, this process has generated some $43 million said reports.
Flawed iPhone parts not destroyed
Local media Taiwannews reported of the news of the investigation first. It found out that flawed iPhone parts would have been destroyed normally. This has not been done to use them in the knockoff iPhones.
When a Taiwan outlet approached Terry Gou, who recently stepped down as Foxconn chairman, he declined to comment. He further added that unreasonable things may happen to one or two workers in a company like Foxconn which employs more than one million employees.
Apple looking into the matter
Another media report by Mirrormedia first bought this scheme to light. After that Apple got informed about what is going on. As per reports, it is most likely that a whistleblower reached out directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Apple’s s business assurance and audit team is leading the investigation according to reports.
Reports said that there have been many similar types of instances with iPhones this year. One of them being two engineering students from China who made about $1 million after smuggling counterfeit devices into the US. These were taken to Apple for warranty-related repairs.
Similar frauds before
Just a month back, law enforcement officials in California disclosed that more than a dozen people have conspired to import fake iPhones and iPads into the US. The scheme included taking the products to Apple stores and claiming that they were broken. After that, the people got Apple to replace them with genuine ones.
