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eBay security boss pleads guilty to stalking couple

by on20 April 2022


Cross-country campaign one of the strangest

If you ever wondered if big corporates could be trusted to act reasonably, the strange case of eBay’s complaints department is a compelling case for intense government regulation.

According to Bloomberg, former eBay security director Jim Baugh is about to plead guilty to running a bizarre 2019 cyberstalking campaign against a couple who ran a website critical of the company.

Baugh had been scheduled to face trial in late May. In a court filing on Tuesday, his defense attorney, William Fick, asked a federal judge in Boston to allow Baugh to change his plea via videoconference.

Baugh and five other former eBay employees were a little concerned that Ina and David eCommerce Bytes’s site had upset the company's then-Chief Executive Officer Devin Wenig.

The site revealed details of Wenig’s compensation package. Wenig is alleged to have texted his -communications chief Steve Wymer “To take her down” and Baugh was given the job.

Baugh’s actions included threatening Ina and David Steiner, sending the couple live spiders and a bloody pig mask, and following them around town.

In a newly disclosed 34-page PowerPoint presentation, lawyers for eBay admitted that the actions were “clearly criminal.”

Prosecutors said that Baugh “hand-picked people he thought he could control from different teams within the unit. He deliberately excluded and concealed his plans from managers who would stop him.”

Wenig was allowed to resign in September 2019 with $57 million in severance (we have emphasised the number because talking about how much money he gets makes him ever-so-cross).  He has not been charged in the case and has denied he knew anything about the harassment.

 

Last modified on 20 April 2022
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