Former Apple Store employee jailed for 13 months after admitting what he did inside the store
A former employee admitted to stealing 44 iPhones during his employment
A former Apple Store employee has been jailed for 13 months after he admitted that he broke the law inside the store.
Last week, a court sentenced the ex staff member to over a year in prison after he pleaded guilty.
Davy Vincent Cheng appeared in a Hong Kong court last Monday (September 1), after he was initially arrested back in January 2021.
Cheng admitted to stealing and selling 44 iPhones from October to December 2020 during his employment with Apple at the store in Hysan Place, Causeway Bay, in Hong Kong.
Advert
In the court, it was detailed how the man was in charge of the iPhone inventory at the store where he would give an iPhone to staff and secretly take an extra one for himself.
During this time, Cheng deposited HK$440,000 ($56,484) into his account.
Things came to a head when a supervisor counted the inventory and noticed there were iPhones that were missing.
After reviewing footage from the CCTV, management confronted Cheng about him taking devices out of storage without recording them.
Cheng admitted what he had done and was fired from his job a week later.
He also signed an agreement with Apple to return the money he had stolen, which he did by bank transfer two days later.
In January 2021, the man was arrested and this month he was sentenced to 13 months behind bars.
Judge Lily Wong, who jailed Cheng, also ordered him to pay around HK$32,000 ($4,100) to his former employer.
But things could have been a lot worse for the thief as, under the law in Hong Kong, the crime is punishable by up to a decade in prison.
In other news, Apple announced the latest model of iPhone yesterday (September 9) during their live event.
Four new models will be dropping, including the major ‘iPhone Air’ that is said to be the ‘most durable yet’.
The new range of iPhones are expected to be the first ones to use iOS 26’s Liquid Glass design and the screen has a larger display than previous models, with a 6.3 inch display.
The frame of the iPhone Air will be made of titanium, and the Pro version will also have a 48 megapixel camera.
Other new products include the Apple Watch Series 11 which will come with WatchOS 26, and the AirPods Pro 3, which will be available to buy from September 19.