You have to admire the guy's enterprise, most Foxconn employees are so depressed at their role in making iPhones they try to exit the company via the roof. This bloke, who is known only by his family name, Tsai, apparently wanted to go places. He worked in the testing department at Foxconn’s factory in Shenzhen, mainland China.
According to Taiwanese prosecutors, Tsai ordered eight of his subordinates to smuggle out thousands of iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s which were used by the company for testing and quality assurance purposes. They were supposed to be scrapped after use however Tsai shipped them to stores in Shenzhen.
Foxconn carried out an internal audit and did wonder what had happened. When Tsai returned to the island he was questioned and released on bail.
Tsai faces a maximum 10-year jail term, it seems a little stiff given that the phones had no value and were going to end up in a skip anyway. But then we guess Foxconn must keep its Apple overlords sweet and a public hanging is not considered acceptable these days.