Singapore exec resigns in Apple bribe probe

The executive chairman of Singapore-based JLJ Holdings has "voluntarily" stepped down from his position to facilitate investigations into claims that a former Apple employee had received kickbacks from Asian suppliers including JLJ.

According to a Thursday report by Reuters, the Singapore mold manufacturing company released a statement saying its executive chairman whom the news agency identified as Chua Kim Guan, will step down to "facilitate the impartial review" of activities related to a U.S. lawsuit filed by Apple.

The suit named Apple's global supply manager, Paul Shin Devine, and several others including Singaporean Andrew Ang, alleging that Devine had accepted bribes from Apple's Asian suppliers--amounting to more than US$1 million--in exchange for confidential company data to aid the suppliers in negotiating better contracts with Apple. Ang is a former JLJ employee and Chua's brother-in-law.

For more on this story, read S'pore exec steps down in Apple bribe probe on ZDNet Asia.