Ex-Big Ten Network employee sentenced in $4M Apple product fraud scheme

CHICAGO - A former Big Ten Network employee has been sentenced to federal prison after prosecutors said he embezzled more than $4 million by using company money to buy Apple products that he later resold for personal profit.

Former BTN employee sentenced in $4M fraud case

What we know:

Weston Goldstein, 48, was sentenced to 28 months in prison and ordered to pay $4,008,719.81 in restitution after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

Goldstein served as the Big Ten Network's senior director of engineering, where he was responsible for buying electronic devices for the network and its employees.

Federal prosecutors said that from January 2016 through August 2023, Goldstein abused that role by using company credit cards and BTN's procurement process to purchase roughly $4,008,719.91 worth of Apple products with company funds.

Instead of using the devices for the network, prosecutors said Goldstein gave them to family members, sold them to an Apple device reseller in Pennsylvania and listed them for sale on online marketplaces including eBay and Mercari. The sales generated about $1.1 million.

According to prosecutors, Goldstein spent roughly $630,000 of the proceeds on personal expenses, including restaurants, merchandise and automotive costs. He paid about $470,000 to someone he claimed was extorting him after the two began an online relationship.

What they're saying:

Before sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Chmura told the judge that Goldstein's actions were deliberate and repeated over several years.

"Defendant's crime was not a one-time bad decision or temporary lapse in judgment; it was a multi-year scheme that required multiple steps, and defendant committed the fraud over and over again," Chmura wrote.

Prosecutors also argued that Goldstein took advantage of reduced oversight during the COVID-19 pandemic and continued making unauthorized purchases even after BTN instructed him to stop buying equipment for the company.