A former Big Ten Network executive used company purchasing accounts to acquire more than $4 million in Apple products, then diverted the devices to relatives, a reseller, and customers on eBay and Mercari.
Weston Goldstein, 48, turned the electronics into approximately $1.1 million in resale proceeds during a scheme that continued for nearly eight years. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to 28 months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin also ordered Goldstein to repay more than $4 million to BTN.
His Job Put Him in Charge of Electronics Purchases
A former Big Ten Network employee has been sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud in a scheme that involved buying more than $4 million worth of Apple products with company funds and reselling them. Here’s what happened. https://t.co/N1htu3K6xO
— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) July 23, 2026
Goldstein served as BTN’s senior director of engineering and was responsible for purchasing computers, phones, and other electronic equipment for the network and its employees.
From January 2016 through August 2023, he used company credit cards and BTN’s procurement process to purchase approximately $4,008,719.91 in Apple products, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Employees were expected to provide a legitimate business reason for company purchases. Goldstein concealed the unauthorized orders by representing them as equipment intended for BTN or its staff.
Devices Went to Relatives, a Reseller, and Online Buyers
Some of the Apple products went to Goldstein’s family members. Others were supplied to an Apple-device reseller in Pennsylvania or sold to third parties through eBay and Mercari.
The sales generated approximately $1.1 million, far less than the amount BTN paid for the devices. The network therefore absorbed a loss of more than $4 million even though Goldstein received only a portion of the products’ original purchase value through resale.
Prosecutors did not publicly identify the Pennsylvania reseller or state whether the reseller or any online buyers knew the products had been purchased with BTN funds.
Reduced Pandemic Oversight Helped the Scheme Grow
Prosecutors said Goldstein exploited reduced supervision during the COVID-19 pandemic to increase his unauthorized purchasing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Chmura wrote in the government’s sentencing memorandum that the conduct was not a single bad decision but a repeated scheme requiring several steps over multiple years.
Near the end of Goldstein’s employment, BTN instructed him to stop purchasing equipment. Prosecutors said he ignored that direction and continued placing unauthorized orders.
About $630,000 Went Toward Personal Expenses
Goldstein spent approximately $630,000 of the resale proceeds on restaurants, merchandise, automotive expenses, and other personal costs. He paid the remaining approximately $470,000 to a person he claimed was extorting him after the two began an online relationship.
The Justice Department described the extortion account as Goldstein’s claim. Federal prosecutors charged Goldstein with wire fraud in July 2025. He later pleaded guilty to the charge. Judge Durkin sentenced him on July 16, 2026, to 28 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay BTN $4,008,719.81 in restitution.
Independent Review Can Expose Procurement-Card Abuse
Transactions may be harder to question when the same person controls the order information, supporting paperwork, and explanation for why an item was needed. The IRS purchase-card program provides one example of controls designed to prevent that concentration of authority. Its rules assign separate roles to cardholders, approving officials, and funding officials.
Approving officials must review transactions and supporting documents, while cardholders must record purchases in an order log, attach the required documentation, and enter when the goods or services were received. The program also uses single-transaction limits, monthly spending limits, and merchant-category restrictions.
For electronics purchases, comparing the approved order with the equipment actually received and assigned makes the review about more than whether a receipt exists. A card statement and invoice may show that Apple products were purchased without proving that the devices ever reached the employees named in the business justification.