An Apple executive was indicted on bribery charges alongside two officers Monday for allegedly offering 200 iPads to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's office last year in exchange for four concealed-carry weapons (CCW) permits. Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters resides in the county. Under California law, it is a crime to carry a concealed firearm without a CCW license.
Security has become a heightened concern in Silicon Valley over the past couple of years. While Apple has not been a specific target itself, other high-profile companies have had attacks, including YouTube in 2018. In that case, an active shooter at an outdoor patio of the video portal's San Bruno, Calif., headquarters, injured three people before taking their own life. Later confirmed as Nasim Aghdam, the shooter was reportedly upset about video view counts and the belief that YouTube was filtering out Aghdam's videos from searches.
It was for this very reason that Apple's security head Thomas Moyer was trying to secure the licenses, according to Moyer's lawyer Ed Swanson. Swanson told Reuters Moyer had applied for the gun permits for four Apple security staff so they could better protect employees. The fees for a permit add up to between $200 and $400. To qualify, an applicant must first complete a gun course, have good moral character and provide good cause for needing the license, although the sheriff has ultimate discretion on who can get one. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff said in a release that Undersheriff Rick Sung, 48, and Capt. James Jensen, 43, withheld the four CCW licenses until Moyer, 50, promised to give the iPads to the sheriff's office, which total to around $70,000 in value. However, the alleged bribe was reportedly called off in August 2019 after a search warrant was issued for the sheriff's office and all the CCW license records were seized. Moyer's lawyer Ed Swanson denied the charges in a statement to CNBC, saying he did "nothing wrong."
Apple also appears to be standing by Moyer, who has been with the company for fourteen years. The company released a statement saying it expects its employees to conduct themselves with integrity but found no wrongdoing in its own investigation into the bribery allegations. Moyer's lawyer Swanson is confident he will be acquitted at trial. He said Moyer had become "collateral damage" in a "bitter dispute" between the DA and sheriff's office.
These bribery charges come amid an ongoing probe into the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office over officers allegedly soliciting political donations for Sheriff Laurie Smith’s 2018 re-election campaign in exchange for gun permits. That case does not involve Apple. However, according to NBC, donors were about fourteen times more likely to get permits than non-donors. The sheriff isn't facing charges herself although four people were indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges back in August over the alleged scheme, including Capt. Jensen. An insurance broker, Harpreet Chadha, 49, was also charged Monday for allegedly offering $6,000 worth of luxury box seat tickets to a San Jose Sharks game on Valentine's Day last year in exchange for a CCW license. The defendants, including Apple's security head, will be arraigned on January 11, 2021.
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