A Former Amazon Worker sentenced to federal prison For bribery plot

An employee who previously worked with Amazon has been sentenced to 10 months jail time and also fined $50,000 for an international fraud and bribery conspiracy, as reported by the Department of Justice.

Rohit Kadimisetty who hails from Northridge, California, was sentenced on Friday after he had pleaded guilty to the conspiracy in September of last year. He was one of the six people implicated for fraud and happened to be the first to be jailed in an alleged international operation to manipulate the Amazon marketplace, according to the department of justice.
The group allegedly bribed Amazon staff to get an undue advantage in Amazon’s marketplace according to reports.
Kadimisetty went from India to the US in 2015 and made contact with Amazon employees in India whom he eventually hired to “misuse their employee credentials and then had access to corporate and confidential information, systems, and tools,” according to the department of justice, which noted a number of his connections in India have been fired and dismissed from Amazon.
As reported by Metronews on Friday, Kadimisetty previously worked as a seller support employee in Hyderabad, India, until 2015.
“Mr. Kadimisetty then took advantage of his knowledge about amazon and connection to unjustly benefit himself by manipulating listings on the Amazon Marketplace,” according to the U.S. Attorney named Nick Brown, in a statement.

READ ALSO : Supply chain difficulty lies ahead states Maersk CEO

The defendants, reportedly, functioned as intels to third-party sellers on Amazon Marketplace since 2017, who marketed goods ranging from electronics, gadgets to dietary supplements. Kadimisetty allegedly bribed Amazon staff for a total sum of $100,000 to get confidential business information regarding the company’s algorithm and to support “attacks” on other competitors using encrypted messaging services, phony email accounts, and third-party bribery to disguise and perfect the plot.
“We put in a lot of efforts to establish a trustworthy purchasing experience by protecting our selling partners, customers, and Amazon from abuse and fraud, and as would be expected, we have measures put in place to detect dubious conduct,” said Amazon in a statement. “No form of dubious act at Amazon will be taken lightly, and we will continue unceasingly to apply all measures
to ensure our business is secure and hold bad actors accountable and ensure they serve their punishment accordingly.”
Kadimisetty ceased his involvement since 2018.
A trial for the other four remaining suspects is scheduled for October this year.