TWO former employees of a Foxconn factory that produces Apple’s smartphones were tried at Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on Wednesday after appealing a lower court’s ruling that convicted them of theft, the Daily Sunshine reported.

    The two men, surnamed Huang and Chen, reportedly attempted to ship six cartons of iPhone 5 touch screens with a retail value of 2.3 million yuan (US$376,136) out of Foxconn Technology Group’s factory in Guanlan Subdistrict, Longhua New Area, in November 2013.

    Huang, a superintendent in charge of security at the factory, was asked in October 2013 to ship two cartons of production materials away from the factory, by a man surnamed Yao, who also worked at the factory. Yao offered Huang 20,000 yuan as payment.

    Huang then invited Chen to be his assistant and promised to give Chen half of the money.

    Huang’s scheme eventually failed when a vehicle loaded with two cartons of iPhone 5 screens was stopped at the factory’s gate by security guards. Another four cartons of screens that Huang had tried to relocate were also seized.

    Yao is still at large after the incident and Huang and Chen have both been dismissed from the factory.

    The verdict issued by Bao’an District People’s Court said the two men had committed theft. Huang was sentenced to eight years in prison and Chen was given seven years, plus both were given 10,000-yuan fines.

    Both Huang and Chen were dissatisfied with the verdict and appealed to the intermediate court, arguing that they had only conducted acts of misappropriation, as opposed to theft.

    Huang argued that he only followed instructions given by Yao, the principal criminal in the case, because Yao was the only person among them who was allowed access to the warehouse where electronic components like iPhone 5 screens are stored.

    He defended his actions, claiming they were acts of misappropriation on the grounds that his position granted him the right to move the factory’s production materials to locations outside the factory.

    Chen also said in his appeal that the crime had been orchestrated by Yao and that he had merely assisted Huang in moving the cartons to a different location, hoping to receive leniency in punishment based on this defense.

    The intermediate court has yet to hand down its verdict.

    (Anna Zhao)