Six people allegedly conspired to bribe Amazon employees and contractors to gain a competitive advantage in the retailer’s market, the federal prosecutor announced Friday.
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U.S. According to the Justice Department, the people in charge pose as consultants and work with third-party vendors whose products were previously removed from the Amazon Marketplace to return items to the platform. The defendant alleges that six people paid a total of more than 100 100,000 in bribes to at least 10 Amazon employees in exchange for reinstating banned products or services. The products include household goods, consumer electronics and dietary supplements, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Brian Moore said in a statement that “the ultimate victims of this criminal behavior are the purchasing public, who receive secondary or even dangerous goods that should be removed from the market.” “As world commerce moves towards online commerce, we must ensure that the market is not contaminated with the unjust benefits gained through bribery and kickbacks.”
Alleged bribery and wire fraud
Federal officials charged Ephraim Rosenberg of Brooklyn, New York; Joseph Nielsen and Kristen Lexie of New York City; Hadis Nuhanaviv of Ekworth, Georgia; Rohit Kadimisetti of Northridge, California; And Nishad Kunju of Hyderabad, India, conspiracy to commit commercial bribery, conspiracy to gain access to a secure computer, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and other violations. Kunju of India was involved in the scheme as an employee of Amazon, but later left the retailer and became one of the consultants, lawyers claim.
Federal authorities allege that Amazon employees who were bribed disclose revenue information about other third-party sellers to advisers or temporarily suspend some sellers’ accounts. Employees specifically targeted third-party vendors who competed with vendors working with six consultants, the Justice Department said.
The bribe also helped six consultants access the Amazon Marketplace’s operating operating procedures and algorithms, the indictment said. Those data, which include insights into how search engines and product reviews work, gave third-party sellers an unfair competitive advantage when asked how to post their products, the plaintiff said.
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Seattle’s FBI agent, Raymond Duda, said in a statement that they felt they would not be able to compete on the level playing field, so the issues turned to bribery and fraud. “The same thing is, they not only tried to increase sales of their own products, but they also tried to hurt and discredit their competitors.”
In a statement, Amazon said Friday it was “disappointed” by the actions of this limited group of former employees allegedly involved in the scheme. The technology company added that the company has “systems in place to detect suspicious behavior.”
Six defendants sentenced to five years in prison for taking commercial bribes and up to 20 years for wire fraud. He will appear in court in Seattle on October 15.
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