Former Amazon employee was sentenced FridayFor his participation in an international scheme of bribery, he was sentenced to federal prison

Rohit Kadimisetty was a seller support worker at Amazon’s Hyderabad office, India. He worked there until 2015. In 2015, he confessed that he had conspired with others to commit bribery beyond state and national boundaries. Kadimisetty was also required to pay $50,000 in fines and be supervised for three years.

Kadimisetty was one of six. who the U.S. Department of Justice chargedFor allegedly conspiring to “overhand” Amazon sellers by bribing them. Kadimisetty was not the only one indicted. Joseph Nilsen and Kristen Leccese were also included as seller consultants. Hadis Nuhanovic, Kristen Leccese, Kristen Leccese and Nishad Kunju worked for Amazon India from 2018 to 2018.

These individuals allegedly conspired to bribe Amazon employees to reveal search algorithms and rank algorithms of the company, and also share information on competitors on the market. According to the DOJ’s indictment, this scheme involved paying employees to restore suspended accounts or defacing competitor product listings.

The DOJ stated that the individuals paid over $100 million worth of bribes, and more than $100,000 to their employees.

Amazon dismissed four Indian employees who had been allegedly involved in the bribery scheme in 2018, including Kunju, and three others not named in court filings.

Amazon created the marketplace online in 2000. This allowed a variety of businesses from all sizes to trade on Amazon’s platform. The online marketplace now represents approximately 60% of Amazon’s total retail sales.

Although the Amazon marketplace has brought in record revenues, there have been numerous instances where it was found to be a host of counterfeit, unapproved, and expired products. In the background, fraudsters have used black hat strategies for many years to squash their competitors, boost their listings, or avoid Amazon’s market rules.

Amazon stated that it has invested hundreds of millions per year in products to ensure safety and compliance.

In Friday’s U.S. District Court hearing, Judge Richard Jones stated that these activities are similar to modern-day organized crime.

U.S. Attorney Nick Brown stated that “Mr. Kadimisetty utilized his contacts and knowledge from past employment at Amazon, in order to enrich himself through manipulating listings on Amazon Marketplace.” He was an integral part of the bribery machine: he paid Indian contacts to restore suspended accounts and steal confidential information.

Kadimisetty’s attorneys didn’t reply to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Amazon did not respond.

Rosenberg and Nuhanovic along with Leccese, Leccese, Nilsen and Leccese are set to face trial in October. The DOJ stated that Kunju was not yet arraigned under the indictment.

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