Washington: A 28-year-old former employee of Indian origin heroine He has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for engaging in an international bribery scheme to steal confidential information and manipulate the e-commerce giant’s marketplace platform.
Rohit Kadimisetti of Northridge, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in September 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.
He is one of six advisers to a fraud and bribery scheme that targeted the Seattle-headquartered e-commerce giant and its online marketplace in September 2020.
Amazon Marketplace is an e-commerce platform owned and operated by Amazon that enables third-party sellers to sell new or used products on a fixed-price online marketplace alongside Amazon’s regular offerings.
US Attorney Nick Brown announced Friday that Kadimisetti has been sentenced to 10 months in prison. The DOJ said he was also fined $50,000.
She said she used her former position as an Amazon employee and covert tactics, including commercial bribery, to steal confidential information and manipulate the Amazon Marketplace.
During the sentencing hearing, US District Judge Richard A. Jones said, “You do not have a license to steal from Amazon … You were involved in illegal conduct … This could be called modern-day organized crime.”
Attorney Brown said Kadimisetti used his knowledge and contacts from prior employment at Amazon to enrich himself by manipulating listings on the Amazon Marketplace.
“He was a key force in the cycle of bribery: paying contacts in India to restore suspended accounts, stealing confidential information and attacking competitors who got in the way of funding the bribery scheme,” Brown said. said.
According to records in the case, since at least 2017, the defendants used bribery and fraud to placate and benefit certain merchants on the Amazon Marketplace.
Kadimisetti and the other defendants acted as so-called advisors to third-party (“3P”) sellers on the Amazon Marketplace.
Those 3P sellers sold a wide range of goods, including home goods, consumer electronics and dietary supplements, on Amazon’s multi-billion dollar electronic commerce platform.
The DOJ said that following his employment at Amazon, and relocating to the US, Kadimisetti used his internal knowledge to recruit employees in India to abuse his employee privileges and access to internal information, systems and tools. Did.
Kadimisetty connected employees in India with other consultants and 3P sellers across the US, saying they acted as a sort of middleman, delegating tasks on behalf of 3P sellers and paying bribes on behalf of corrupt Amazon insiders. arranged.
The DOJ said that to hide his criminal conduct, Kadimisetti used deceptive email accounts, encrypted messaging services and bribes through third parties.
Illegal services provided by Kadimisetti and other defendants include: theft of confidential business information about Amazon algorithms; Restoring suspended accounts and products; bypassing inventory charges for Amazon Warehouse; falsification of claims for lost inventory; and facilitate attacks on competing sellers and product listings, it said.
In his plea agreement, Kadimisetti admitted to being responsible for $100,000 in bribes paid to Amazon insiders during his active participation in the venture, it said.
Kadimisetti left the plot in late 2018, after several of his contacts in India were fired by Amazon due to misconduct, the DOJ said.
“Kadimisetti used his insider reach and expertise to the advantage of himself and his co-conspirators. Their actions not only broke the law, but ultimately shook consumer confidence by questioning fair play. Fortunately, the actions of law enforcement were able to stop this plan,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Donald Voirett, FBI Seattle.
The four defendants, Ephraim Rosenberg of Brooklyn; Josef Nilsson and Kristen Lessey of New York City and Hadis Nuhanovic of Georgia are scheduled to test in October 2022.
Hyderabad’s defendant Nishad Kunju has not been produced on the charge.
The case is being investigated by the FBI with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and International Affairs Office of the Justice Department.
Rohit Kadimisetti of Northridge, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in September 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.
He is one of six advisers to a fraud and bribery scheme that targeted the Seattle-headquartered e-commerce giant and its online marketplace in September 2020.
Amazon Marketplace is an e-commerce platform owned and operated by Amazon that enables third-party sellers to sell new or used products on a fixed-price online marketplace alongside Amazon’s regular offerings.
US Attorney Nick Brown announced Friday that Kadimisetti has been sentenced to 10 months in prison. The DOJ said he was also fined $50,000.
She said she used her former position as an Amazon employee and covert tactics, including commercial bribery, to steal confidential information and manipulate the Amazon Marketplace.
During the sentencing hearing, US District Judge Richard A. Jones said, “You do not have a license to steal from Amazon … You were involved in illegal conduct … This could be called modern-day organized crime.”
Attorney Brown said Kadimisetti used his knowledge and contacts from prior employment at Amazon to enrich himself by manipulating listings on the Amazon Marketplace.
“He was a key force in the cycle of bribery: paying contacts in India to restore suspended accounts, stealing confidential information and attacking competitors who got in the way of funding the bribery scheme,” Brown said. said.
According to records in the case, since at least 2017, the defendants used bribery and fraud to placate and benefit certain merchants on the Amazon Marketplace.
Kadimisetti and the other defendants acted as so-called advisors to third-party (“3P”) sellers on the Amazon Marketplace.
Those 3P sellers sold a wide range of goods, including home goods, consumer electronics and dietary supplements, on Amazon’s multi-billion dollar electronic commerce platform.
The DOJ said that following his employment at Amazon, and relocating to the US, Kadimisetti used his internal knowledge to recruit employees in India to abuse his employee privileges and access to internal information, systems and tools. Did.
Kadimisetty connected employees in India with other consultants and 3P sellers across the US, saying they acted as a sort of middleman, delegating tasks on behalf of 3P sellers and paying bribes on behalf of corrupt Amazon insiders. arranged.
The DOJ said that to hide his criminal conduct, Kadimisetti used deceptive email accounts, encrypted messaging services and bribes through third parties.
Illegal services provided by Kadimisetti and other defendants include: theft of confidential business information about Amazon algorithms; Restoring suspended accounts and products; bypassing inventory charges for Amazon Warehouse; falsification of claims for lost inventory; and facilitate attacks on competing sellers and product listings, it said.
In his plea agreement, Kadimisetti admitted to being responsible for $100,000 in bribes paid to Amazon insiders during his active participation in the venture, it said.
Kadimisetti left the plot in late 2018, after several of his contacts in India were fired by Amazon due to misconduct, the DOJ said.
“Kadimisetti used his insider reach and expertise to the advantage of himself and his co-conspirators. Their actions not only broke the law, but ultimately shook consumer confidence by questioning fair play. Fortunately, the actions of law enforcement were able to stop this plan,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Donald Voirett, FBI Seattle.
The four defendants, Ephraim Rosenberg of Brooklyn; Josef Nilsson and Kristen Lessey of New York City and Hadis Nuhanovic of Georgia are scheduled to test in October 2022.
Hyderabad’s defendant Nishad Kunju has not been produced on the charge.
The case is being investigated by the FBI with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and International Affairs Office of the Justice Department.
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