Besides the recent scandal accusing Devine of receiving kickbacks for releasing secret information about Apple Computers that is finding its way to the front of every technology news reel in the past week, very little is known about the middle manager. The profile picture on his Facebook page is suggestive of a family consisting of a wife and young daughter and they appear to be happy. Of course, one can imagine that a wife would have to love her husband to allow him to open bank accounts in her name to launder money through them. That is, if she knew. At this point, Devine can not be reached for comment, and the U.S. Marshals who are holding him most likely will not allow him to access his Facebook profile to update it any time soon.
There are a few things we can verify about Devine, however. He is 37 and resides in Sunnyvale, California. According to his LinkedIn account which is already under strict privacy settings, Devine graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy in 1996. The United States Merchant Marine Academy has been located in Kings Point, New York since 1943. Its students are trained to become officers in the U.S. Merchant Marines or other branches of the military or they are trained in the transportation industry. It is at this school that the students, called midshipmen, learn about maritime and international law and customs. It is safe to say that since being trained at USMMA, Devine was aware of international trading laws.
From 1998 to 2005 he was employed by Teradyne, a United States supplier of testing equipment. Teradyne was founded by Alex d'Arbeloff and Nick DeWolf who were both MIT graduates where Devine would later go. Today, the company is largely known for testing equipment that uses integrated circuits and for selling personalized analytical equipment to vehicle manufacturers. Teradyne's base is in New England, but operates on a global scale.
Finally, Devine attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before becoming employed by Apple. Devine graduated from MIT's Sloan School of Management in 2005. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Sloan School of Management trains students in business administration and Devine most likely attended the Masters of Business Administration program, as that is the school's largest program.
Devine's official title at Apple Computer is (or more likely “was” after this debacle) Senior Operations Manager of the iPod division. His background in technology, business, and international trading law make him the perfect candidate for his job. But Devine took advantage of that. Allegedly, Devine used his insider knowledge with Apple's upcoming products such as the newest iPhone and iPod and traded that knowledge to Asian accessory manufacturers in exchange for kickbacks in upwards of $1 million. Companies such as Creslyn Co. of South Korea, Kaedar Electronics Co. of China, and Jin Li Mould Manufacturing Pte. Ltd. of Singapore have been named as using the insider information from Devine to negotiate more favorable contracts to produce Apple products.
Using up to 14 different bank accounts in multiple countries, including some in his wife's name, Devine spread the bribes out into small doses so as to not attract attention. But, as it turns out, one cannot hide from Steve Jobs. The information that lead to Devine's arrest was apparently found in his personal Gmail and Hotmail email accounts. Andrew Ang has also been named in the 23-count federal grand jury indictment including wire fraud and money laundering. Apple has also filed a civil suit against Devine.
Remember when that Apple engineer left the new iPhone prototype sitting on a table somewhere? Devine's got it way worse.
