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Accused Apple supply manager can leave jail with lien against home [u]

The Apple supply manager charged with selling company secrets for more than a million dollars in kickbacks will be able to bond out of prison once a $440,000 lien against his mother's home is posted with the court [updated].

Update: On Wednesday a judge granted Paul Devine permission to leave jail on bond once the lien against his mother's home is posted. He also paid more than $600,000 from overseas bank accounts, posted $50,000 from his brother, and pledged to pay another $313,000 from Korean bank accounts.

Earlier, it was revealed that Devine offered $612,407 apparently held in foreign bank accounts for bail, according to court documents obtained by Bloomberg. But his attorney said banking laws in Korea, where about $313,000 is held, prevent Devine from quickly transferring the money.

"It appears that it will be very time-consuming, and difficult — if not impossible — to transfer these funds from Korea to the United States," his attorney, Raphael Goldman, wrote. "The defense submits that Mr. Devine should be released while we explore possible ways to transfer the remaining funds from Korea."

In the meantime, the 37-year-old Apple manager has pledged his San Francisco, Calif., home and his mother's house in Maryland as collateral for the bond. His lawyer also indicated that he has met most conditions for release set by the court.

Among the cooperation cited by Devine's attorney was access to two safety deposit boxes apparently given to investigators. That access was one of a number of orders the court made last month, in addition to requiring that Devine and his wife surrendering their passports.

Goldman also cited his his client's apparent willingness to help protect trade secret information he knows about Apple. Devine and the prosecution have agreed to procedures on how data will be handled during the pretrial bargaining phase, but may still challenge how that information will be used in his trial.

In August, Devine was arrested and charged with wire fraud, kickbacks and money laundering. Prosecutors have alleged that the Apple global supply manager used his security clearance to provide confidential information to the hardware maker's suppliers. Apple's partners then allegedly used the information to negotiate favorable contracts with Apple, and, the prosecution says, paid kickbacks to Devine.

Devine is accused of accepting more than a million dollars from Asian suppliers, and investigators found $150,000 stashed in shoe boxes in his home. He has pleaded not guilty, and also faces a civil suit from Apple.