In a scorching ruling against Apple, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has accused an Apple finance executive of providing false testimony under oath during the company's ongoing legal battle with Epic Games.


The judge stated that Alex Roman, Apple's vice president of finance, gave testimony that was "replete with misdirection and outright lies" regarding when Apple decided on its controversial 27 percent commission fee for purchases made outside the App Store.

"Contemporaneous business documents reveal that on the contrary, the main components of Apple's plan, including the 27 percent commission, were determined in July 2023," wrote Gonzalez Rogers in her ruling. "Neither Apple, nor its counsel, corrected the, now obvious, lies."

The ruling is significant enough that Gonzalez Rogers is referring the case to a U.S. attorney for possible criminal contempt proceedings against both Apple and Roman.

The judge didn't mince words in her assessment of Apple's behavior, writing that "Apple willfully chose not to comply with this Court's Injunction" and did so "with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers" to maintain its revenue stream.

"That it thought this Court would tolerate such insubordination was a gross miscalculation," she added. "As always, the cover-up made it worse. For this Court, there is no second bite at the apple."

According to court documents, Roman testified that Apple hadn't decided on the 27 percent fee until January 16, 2024. However, the judge found evidence showing the fee structure had been determined months earlier in July 2023.

The false testimony appears to have particularly aggravated the judge, who said in her ruling that the alleged deception compounded Apple's original violation of the anti-steering injunction.

In a brief statement, Apple said: "We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court's order and we will appeal."
This article, "Apple VP Referred for Criminal Contempt After 'Outright Lies' in Epic Games Ruling" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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