Apple's head of global security Thomas Moyer has been indicted on bribery charges for promising goods in exchange of concealed-weapons permits. The charges were brought by a California grand jury after two-year investigation into the sheriff's office. Santa Clara Undersheriff Rick Sung and Captain James Jensen, who had allegedly demanded bribes, also have been indicted.
Reports claim that Moyers had promised to donate iPads to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office if they were given permits to carry four concealed-weapons. The news was published in the Santa Clara County district attorney's website. With this an alleged scheme of exchanging costly goods for weapon permits is said to have been busted.
Moyer has been working with Apple for 14 years. He has been serving in the security department since 2013. It is said that he had applied for concealed-weapons permits but the Santa Clara Sheriff's office had withheld the application and forced him to accept the exchange deal. Accordingly, Moyer is said to have agreed to donate iPads worth $70,000.
"The promised donation of 200 iPads worth $70,000 was scuttled at the eleventh hour just after August 2, 2019, when Sung and Moyer learned of the search warrant that the District Attorney's Office executed at the Sheriff's Office seizing all its CCW license records," the district attorney's office said in a statement.
Moyer's Attorney Refutes Allegations
Moyer is being represented by attorney Ed Swanson who refuted all allegations. He said that Moyer had only helped to donate iPads to new education center for the sheriff's office. He stressed that the donation had nothing to do with four concealed-carry permits issued to Apple employees.
"He [Moyer] did nothing wrong and has acted with the highest integrity throughout his career. We have no doubt he will be acquitted at trial," Swanson said in a statement. The Sheriff's office also reacted to the same and said that being law enforcement officers they did nothing wrong morally as well as ethically.
Regarding obtaining permits for concealed weapons, Swanson said that security concerns at Apple were not limited to physical threats. He said that along with the security of personnel, even trade secrets of the company must be protected while keeping its supply chain safe from competitors and other outsiders. He also said that Moyer also played an important role in helping employees through natural disasters.
According to Swanson, the case is a result of collateral damage in a battle between the district attorney's office and the sheriff's office. Apple has said that it investigated the allegations and found no wrongdoing.
Revealing more about the exchange scheme, Jeff Rosen, the Santa Clara district attorney, said that cops Sung and Jensen treated concealed-carry permits like commodities. "Bribe seekers should be reported to the District Attorney's Office, not rewarded with compliance," Rosen said in a statement.
The defendants will attend court on Jan. 11. If found guilty those charged in the case could be sentenced to jail term.
