Stiff Prison Sentence Bites Apple Employee

By JON REMACHE

Another one bites the dust as a former Apple employee was sentenced on Thursday to three to nine years in prison after he conducted a identity theft ring teaming up with a dental assistant and others to steal a total of  $700,00 of apple products in 2012.

Devon Bazile somberly entered the Manhattan courtroom in handcuffs with little regard for Justice Melissa Jackson, referring to her as, “Miss,” after pleading guilty. He was convicted of second degree grand larceny and his defense attorney was denied the request for a surcharge.

The ringleader of the scheme involving the use of over 250 private records of dental patients obtained through Annie Vuong, the receptionist at the Manhattan dental office, according to court records. Bazile then used the patients’ information to apply for Apple credit and gift cards with the assistance of Apple employees.

The four initially pleaded not guilty when charged with 394 counts of identity theft, grand larceny charges among other charges in a crime spree that lasted nearly a year, according to records.

“Using stolen information to purchase Apple products is one of the most common schemes employed by cybercrime and identity theft rings today,” said Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance when he announced the indictment. “We see in case after case how all it takes is single insider at a company – in this instance, allegedly, a receptionist in a dentists’ office – to set an identity theft ring in motion, which then tries to monetize the stolen information by purchasing Apple goods for resale or personal use.”