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The US authorities have officially charged Apple’s global security director with bribes.
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Thomas Muir is accused of providing bribes in the form of iPads worth $ 70,000 to obtain firearms licenses.
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A California jury indicted Muir the charges on Monday. Apple did not respond to requests for comment on the news.
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Two police officers in Santa Clara County in California, Rick Sang and James Jenson, are accused of soliciting bribes in exchange for Apple obtaining concealed firearm licenses.
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Under California laws, it is a crime to possess a concealed firearm without permission from the appropriate authorities.
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Santa Clara County alleges that Sang refrained from issuing licenses to possess concealed weapons for Apple’s security team until Muir agreed to donate $ 70,000 equivalent to the value of iPads.
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Abort the plan
The indictment says the plan was thwarted at 11:00 in August 2019, when Sang and Muir learned of the news of a search warrant related to the confiscation of police records regarding the licensing of concealed weapons.
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The two-year investigation concluded that Sang, with Jenson’s assistance in one case, declined to issue the required licenses by refusing to give them to applicants until something of value was paid.
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Defendants face prison sentences if convicted.
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“They called it a tradeoff. They called it pay for benefits. They called it give for benefits. It’s illegal and severely undermines public confidence in the criminal justice system,” said Jeff Rosen, Santa Clara County Attorney.
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“When senior members of a law enforcement agency are at the center of a scheme to take bribes, it distorts the badge, honor and reputation of security personnel – and catastrophically – all law enforcement agencies,” he added.
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