Amazon Consultant Pleads Guilty in Bribe Plot to Aid Merchants

A prominent Amazon.com Inc. consultant pleaded guilty Thursday to bribing company employees in a scheme to give online sellers a competitive advantage that prosecutors say were worth $100 million.

Ephraim “Ed” Rosenberg was the final holdout among five US-based defendants accused of paying off Amazon employees in exchange for confidential company data that, among other things, helped them steer business to some merchants and shut out their competitors.

Four other people have already pleaded guilty, and two of those were sentenced to prison. One former Amazon employee who lives in India and allegedly accepted bribes was indicted but never arraigned. ...