State media reported today that Alibaba had offered a discount to employees for buying the circular treats, given during the festival that begins tomorrow.
They said the fired employees exploited loopholes in the software to obtain more than the allotted amount and pilfered a total of 124 boxes of cakes.
An Alibaba statement said the firings were "unfortunate, but we wish them a better future."
Alibaba is the world's largest e-commerce platform. Its initial public offering in 2014 was the largest in the New York Stock Exchange's history.
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