Disabled Samsung employee stole 8,474 smartphones to pay $800,000 gambling debt

General

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Here's something you don't read every day. A disabled employee stole over $700,000 worth of goods from his employer to settle a gambling debt of $800,000. He was busted before he could pay it off completely so he'll be on the hook now for stealing as well as for an unpaid gambling debt.

Police in South Korea has arrested a disabled Samsung Electronics employee in a wheelchair stealing and selling 8,474 Samsung smartphones. The man, identified by his surname Lee, stole the devices from Samsung headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

He was able to steal thousands of handsets between December 2014 and November 2016 without getting caught. The handsets were not retail units. They were meant for developers testing updates and working on new features.

Samsung hired Lee in 2010 as part of a program in which it offered jobs to people with disabilities. His job at the company was to maintain the old devices that developers used for the purposes mentioned above.

The company reported this case to the police in December last year after it found out that some not-for-sale handsets were being distributed in Vietnam. Lee would pawn the stolen handsets to a second-hand phone retailer and had been able to steal $711,000 worth of handsets in just two years.

The police have revealed after an investigation that Lee's motive was to pay off an $800,000 gambling debt. Talk about being in over your head!

Adnan Farooqui - Executive Editor

[email protected]

First Samsung device: SGH-E900

Adnan Farooqui is a long-term writer at SamMobile. Based in Pakistan, his interests include technology, finance, Swiss watches and Formula 1. His tendency to write long posts betrays his inclination to being a man of few words.

Via General Samsung Electronics

Disabled Samsung employee stole 8,474 smartphones to pay $800,000 gambling debt

Adnan Farooqui - Executive Editor

[email protected]

First Samsung device: SGH-E900

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