Six former eBay executives and employees are facing federal charges after they allegedly led a cyberstalking campaign against a Massachusettes couple they believed was critical of the company in an online eCommerce newsletter.
The Boston Herald reports that it began last August when a group of eBay employees conspired to harass included the couple with “disturbing deliveries”.
James Baugh, 45, of San Jose, California, eBay’s former director of safety and security, the former eBay director of global resiliency David Harville, 48, of New York City, Stephanie Popp, 32, of San Jose; Stephanie Stockwell, 26, of Redwood City, Calif.; Veronica Zeak, 26, of San Jose; and Brian Gilbert, 51, of San Jose were all charged with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses.
The couple serves as editor and publisher for an online newsletter that covers eCommerce companies. According to prosecutors, members of eBay’s executive leadership team followed the newsletter and took issue with the content and anonymous comments under the stories.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said “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".“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 said.
The 6 were fired shortly before charges were filed.