Apple’s chief security officer is facing accusations that he offered bribes in the form of iPads to California state officials in exchange for concealed firearms (CCW) licenses, according to an indictment published Monday.

The accusations are part of an investigation that began two years ago into questionable practices by the sheriff’s office, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, which conducted the investigation. The probe revealed Undersheriff Rick Sung, aided by Captain James Jensen in one instance, held up the issuance of the firearms licenses, “refusing to release them until the applicants gave something of value,” the district attorney’s office stated.

“Undersheriff Sung and Captain Jensen treated CCW licenses as commodities and found willing buyers,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosen. Those willing buyers, according to the indictment, were Apple’s Chief Security Officer Thomas Moyer, as well as a local business owner.

Moyer, who joined Apple nearly 15 years ago and served as the company’s chief compliance officer from 2009-18, according to his LinkedIn profile, is accused of promising Apple would donate 200 iPads, at a value of nearly $70,000, to the sheriff’s office in order to obtain four CCW licenses withheld from Apple employees. However, the deal was “scuttled at the eleventh hour just after August 2, 2019, when Sung and Moyer learned of the search warrant that the District Attorney’s Office executed at the Sheriff’s Office seizing all its CCW license records,” according to the district attorney’s office.

The defendants will be arraigned on Jan. 11, 2021, at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, Calif. If convicted, the defendants could receive prison time.

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

“His entire professional career has been founded on the belief that a good leader models ethics and integrity, and he does not deserve to have his good name tarnished by these baseless charges,” Swanson added. “Ultimately, this case is about a long, bitter, and very public dispute between the Santa Clara County Sheriff and the District Attorney, and Tom is collateral damage to that dispute. We look forward to making Tom’s innocence clear in court and bringing an end to this wrong-headed prosecution.”

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal, enforcement, technology, and more.

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