The tug-of-war between the FBI and Apple over access to user data is playing out in a federal case in Chicago, where the FBI sought data from an iPhone owned by a couple involved in a personal bankruptcy case and alleged passport fraud.
Apple, in a battle with the feds over whether to obtain data from a terrorist’s phone in San Bernardino, Calif., released details Tuesday of other instances in recent months in which the federal government invoked the All Writs Act, which is at the crux of the tech giant’s dispute with the government.
In November 2015, the FBI requested a warrant in the Northern District of Illinois, based in Chicago, to search an iPhone 5S owned by Pethinaidu and Parameswari Veluchamy during investigations of potential bankruptcy fraud and other activity. A U.S. magistrate judge ordered Apple to help law enforcement access unencrypted data and provide copies of any encrypted data, according to documents Blue Sky obtained from federal court.
The Veluchamys ran Mutual Bank, which was sued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after failing in July 2009. The suit, which said insiders paid themselves $10.5 million as the bank was struggling, was settled in December 2015.
The two were charged with passport fraud last year, according to court documents.
According to an affidavit filed Nov. 13, text messages, phone contacts and digital photographs might help confirm travel on fraudulently obtained passports, show business conducted on international travel and “contradict representations concerning lack of ownership or assets” in various businesses.
Data on the phone “may also provide relevant insight into the cell phone owner’s state of mind as it relates to the offense under investigation,” and could even “indicate the owner’s motive and intent to commit a crime … or consciousness of guilt.”
In a government motion filed Nov. 25, U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said law enforcement needed the help of Apple to bypass the Veluchamys’ passcode to search, extract and copy data from the device.
That same day, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Rowland ruled that Apple needed to comply with the order to execute the search warrant.
According to a letter by Apple attorney Marc Zwillinger, Apple objected to an order to access an iPhone 5S on Dec. 9. The release mentions two other All Writs Act orders filed in the Northern District of Illinois, but details on other cases were not immediately available.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago said the office would not comment on the warrant or court order in the Veluchamy case.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the pending case but said the company has received some 10,000 requests from law enforcement within the past year and has complied with 80 percent of them. The rest may not have resulted in action by Apple if the company did not receive appropriate information or if the government rescinded its request, among other reasons, the company said.
Reporter Amina Elahi contributed.
mgraham@tribpub.com
Twitter @megancgraham
This story has been updated.
