Several eBay executives and employees are facing federal cyberstalking charges for sending disturbing threats to a couple in Massachusetts.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling announced on Monday that six people were charged with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with an investigation after sending multiple packages to the Natick couple, who wrote negative coverage of the company in an online e-commerce newsletter.
“It was a determined, systematic effort of senior employees of a major company to destroy the lives of a couple in Natick, all because they published content company executives didn’t like,” Lelling said in a news conference.
According to Lelling, one of the executives texted that he wanted to “crush this lady,” while another told his subordinate to “take her down,” both referring to the woman who runs the site. The executives charged are Jim Baugh, eBay’s former director of safety and security, and David Harville, eBay’s former director of global resiliency.
The employees coordinated to send threatening packages to the couple, including a bloody pig mask, a box of live cockroaches, and a funeral wreath, while also posting a classified ad on Craigslist posing as the couple and inviting “singles, couples, and swingers” to their home at 10 p.m. every night.
“These deliveries included fly larvae and live spiders, a box of live cockroaches, a sympathy wreath on the occasion of the death of a loved one, a book of advice on how to survive the death of a spouse, pornography mailed to their next-door neighbors but in the couple’s names, Halloween masks featuring the face of the bloody pig, and the pig fetus which was ordered, but after an inquiry by the supplier, thankfully, wasn’t ever sent,” Lelling also said during the conference.
In a statement issued by an independent committee formed by eBay’s Board of Directors, eBay apologized to the couple for its employees’ behavior, which occurred in the summer of 2019, and later fired all employees involved in September that year.
“eBay took these allegations very seriously from the outset. Upon learning of them, eBay moved quickly to investigate thoroughly and take appropriate action,” the special committee said. “The Company cooperated fully and extensively with law enforcement authorities throughout the process. eBay does not tolerate this kind of behavior. eBay apologizes to the affected individuals and is sorry that they were subjected to this. eBay holds its employees to high standards of conduct and ethics and will continue to take appropriate action to ensure these standards are followed.”
