Apple was the victim of a $152,000 scam over its Matching Grant program. The program, introduced in 2018, allowed Apple employees to double their donations to charity – for every dollar they donated, Apple would match two. However, it was recently discovered that a group of employees were using this program for fraudulent purposes.
As a result of the investigation, Apple fired almost 50 employees, and six of them were accused of tax fraud. According to the charges, company employees falsified donations while collaborating with certain non-profit organizations. According to investigators, they transferred money to charitable organizations, which then returned these funds back to employees, while the company doubled the amount of donations.
This allowed scammers to obtain money from Apple that was not intended for genuine charitable purposes. Damages totaled $152,000 over the last three years. If the allegations are true, it not only violates corporate rules, but could also lead to tax fraud charges.
