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Apple security chief charged with bribing Calif. sheriffs for concealed gun permits

Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Apple's global head of security and two members of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's office were indicted by a grand jury Monday for allegedly requesting and offering bribes for concealed weapons licenses.

A grand jury indicted Undersheriff Rick Sung, 48, and Captain James Jensen, 43, for coordinating a bribe with Apple Chief Security Officer Thomas Moyer, 50, to provide the weapons licenses in exchange for iPads.

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"Undersheriff Sung and Captain Jensen treated CCW licenses as commodities and found willing buyers," Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. "Bribe seekers should be reported to the District Attorney's Office, not rewarded with compliance."

Rosen's office said that Sung and Jensen withheld the licenses from Apple employees and solicited a bribe in the form of a donation of 200 iPads -- worth about $70,000 -- to the sheriff's office.

The deal was eventually called off on Aug. 2, 2019, after Sung and Moyer learned the District Attorney's Office executed a search warrant at the sheriff's office to seize all of its concealed weapons license records, the District Attorney's Office said.

Moyer's lawyer Ed Swanson denied the allegations in a statement to CNBC.

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"Tom Moyer is innocent of the charges filed against him. He did nothing wrong and acted with the highest integrity throughout his career. We have no doubt he will be acquitted at trial," said Swanson.

Apple said an investigation into Moyer's action found no wrongdoing.

"We expect all of our employees to conduct themselves with integrity. After learning of the allegations, we conducted a thorough internal investigation and found no wrongdoing," a representative said.

Sung and Jensen were also accused of coordinating a bribe with local business owner Harpreet Chadha by withholding concealed weapons licenses to extract a promise of $6,000 worth of luxury box seats to a San Jose Sharks hockey game on Valentine's Day 2019. Sheriff Laurie Smith's family members and some of her biggest political donors held a small celebration of her re-election as Sheriff in the suite, prosecutors said.

The defendants will be arraigned on Jan. 11, 2021, and if convicted could face prison time.

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