a Federal Grand Jury Washington is in the state of Washington Guilty Six people accused of bribery Amazon.com Employees to avail benefits for third-party sellers at the retailer store online storefront.

According to Seattle’s U.S. Attorney’s Office fee, each of the defendants provided consulting services to vendors on Amazon’s Marketplace, and they paid the e-commerce giant’s workers a collective Rs. Bribed more than $ 100,000.

Join the M 110M Funding Round of Amazon, Stephen Currents Home Fitness Brand

The defendants include two former Amazon employees who prosecutors say bribed company employees to re-establish sales of substandard or even dangerous products.

Ritter / Mike Seger / File photo

They are also said to have worked to attack customer competitors and suspend accounts and share proprietary details about Amazon’s algorithms for access lists, using inside caches. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

in exchange Money, Amazon insiders provided proprietary Amazon data with access to defendants and – in some cases – certified access to the company’s systems, lawyers insisted.

In a statement, Amazon said the company supported the investigation and worked with it Federal agencies Involved in the case

“Bad actors like in this case are attracted by the growing community of honest entrepreneurs that make up most of our vendors.”

The Journal reports that Joseph Nielsen, 1, and Kristen Lexie, 326, provided consulting services through a company called Digital Checkmate Inc.; Ephraim Rosenberg, 45, led a similar effort known as Amazon Sellers Group TG. Hadis Nuhanovich, 30, provided fee-based consulting and led his own third-party seller accounts; And former Amazon employees 27, Rohit Kadimiseti and 31, Nishad Kunju have also become advisors to third-party sellers.

At least 10 Amazon employees and contractors accepted bribes into the scheme, prosecutors said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the group faces up to 20 years in prison and a further fine for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire-fraud. Additional charges of conspiracy to use a communications facility to pay a commercial bribe can carry up to five years in prison and a fine.

A group of six people arrived in Seattle’s U.S. on October 15. To appear in District Court.

Click here to read more on Fox Business

U.S. Attorney Brian T. “As the world moves rapidly towards commerce online commerce, we must ensure that the unfair benefits gained through bribery and kick-back do not lead to market corruption,” Moore said. Statement. “The ultimate victim of this criminal behavior is the buying public.”

Amazon has a business deal in the market Comes under increased regulatory scrutiny In the past year, and so has Amazon Struggling to stop the sale of defective products.

In April, The Wall Street Journal reported that the tech giant was using data on third-party sales. Launch its own rival productsIs, who initiated a congressional investigation based on antitrust.