A US district judge has referred Apple for a possible criminal contempt investigation after finding the company violated an injunction from a 2021 case brought by Epic Games. The injunction aimed to stop Apple’s anticompetitive conduct and allow alternative payment options in the App Store.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers directed the case to the US Attorney for the Northern District of California. She wants to determine if criminal contempt proceedings are necessary due to Apple’s actions after the injunction.

Epic Games filed the original lawsuit in 2021, arguing that Apple’s 30% cut of purchases and control over App Store transactions were monopolistic. Epic demanded that third-party payment options should be allowed for customers.

In 2021, Judge Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple must let developers link to their own payment systems. This ruling also allowed services like movie-streaming platforms to ask users to subscribe directly through their websites instead of using Apple’s system.

Despite the ruling, Judge Gonzalez Rogers found that Apple continued its anticompetitive behavior. She stated the company violated the injunction by imposing new obstacles to third-party payment systems. Internal Apple documents showed that executives knowingly chose anticompetitive actions.

The judge noted that CEO Tim Cook ignored executive Phillip Schiller’s advice to comply with the injunction. Instead, Cook allowed CFO Luca Maestri to influence his decision. Judge Gonzalez Rogers criticized Cook for making the wrong choice.

She also accused Apple’s vice president of finance, Alex Roman, of lying under oath.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers mentioned one example of Apple’s defiance: the company imposed a 27% commission on off-app purchases, a fee it had not previously charged. She also pointed out that Apple created additional barriers to discourage customers from using external platforms.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney responded on X (formerly Twitter), announcing that Fortnite would return to the US iOS App Store next week. He also extended a peace proposal to Apple, stating that if Apple applied the court’s framework globally, Epic would drop its current and future lawsuits.

Sweeney continued, declaring, “NO FEES on web transactions. Game over for the Apple Tax. Apple’s 15-30% junk fees are now just as dead in the US as they are in Europe under the Digital Markets Act. Unlawful here, unlawful there.”