American company sacks 700, of these 200 in 'donation scam' related to Telugu organisations; similar to firing at Apple

American company Fannie Mae has laid off employees. While the total number of employees who have let go is 700, of these some have been fired on 'ethical grounds. According to media reports, some layoffs were expected as part of the company's organisational restructuring, about 200, majority of them Telugus, were sacked on "ethical grounds". According to those working with the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, the layoffs on Wednesday and Thursday happened on ethical grounds.

The alleged violation is reportedly related to irregularities and misuse of the 'matching grants program'. Some employees are alleged to have colluded with non-profit organisations like Telugu Association of North America (TANA) and misused company funds. Incidentally, this is the same scam that saw Apple firing some Indian-origin employees earlier this year. One of the employees who was laid off at Fannie Mae reportedly held the position of regional vice president in TANA. Sources told TOI that TANA is not alone in this scam, and other organisations are also likely involved.

TANA-related firings at Apple
In January 2025, Apple also sacked over 100 employees with similar allegations. As part of Apple's ‘Matching Gifts Programme’, the company matches employees' charitable contributions by matching their monetary donations to eligible non-profit organisations. For every financial contribution an employee makes to a qualified charity, Apple provides an equivalent amount as a matching donation.

In December 2024, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office stated that it charged six former non-Indian employees of Apple for a scheme in which they tricked the iPhone maker into matching thousands of dollars in donations to children's charities when they were not, in fact, donating anything. Between July 1, 2018, and April 6, 2021, the defendants allegedly manipulated donations to the charities. "By exploiting Apple's employee gift-matching program, the defendants extracted approximately $152,000 from Apple's programme and overreported around $100,000 in charitable contributions as tax deductions," the statement said.

"Kwan (one of the former Apple employees who indulged in fraud) would leverage his position with the charities and reimburse the employees while keeping the matching funds for himself against Apple Charity Matching policy. This deceitful manipulation defrauded both Apple and the State of California, as the employees would then falsely claim these donations as tax deductions," the statement showed.