Paul Shin Devine, the former mide-level Apple manager accused of selling company information to parts suppliers, has agreed to honor a court order that protects Apple’s trade secrets during pre-trial negotiations, according to Bloomberg.
The order was requested by the U.S. Attorney’s office because the discovery process ahead of the trial could potentially expose some of Apple’s proprietary and confidential company data.
Mr. Devine was charged with accepting kickbacks from vendors in exchange for early information about upcoming Apple products while he served as a mid level global supply manager.
Authorities found over US$150,000 stored in shoeboxes in Mr. Devine’s house during a search, and also tracked down several overseas bank accounts holding “a significant amount of money.”
Mr. Devine’s decision to avoid releasing confidential Apple information during the pre-trial process will most likely help the process move forward more smoothly. He could have, however, avoided the legal system completely had he kept the trade secrets to himself instead of selling them to other companies.