A new report in POLITICO details how the multinational tech giant Amazon uses the Justice Department and FBI to investigate employees suspected of fraud and abuse.
Emily Birnbaum and Daniel Lippman report:
The company has increasingly tipped off the Justice Department and FBI to investigate Amazon's own employees and the sellers using its platform, according to a POLITICO analysis and a dozen interviews with Amazon employees, former federal prosecutors and financial crime experts. In addition, it has hired dozens of former DOJ and FBI employees, some of whom are filling out its internal teams aimed at policing its platform.
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In the process, Amazon has built a closer relationship than many large companies have with federal law enforcement, a deep cooperation with one branch of the federal government that could help the company's reputation in Washington as Amazon faces intensifying scrutiny from Congress and federal agencies over its market dominance and fraud on its platform.
By all accounts, Amazon's strategy goes beyond the typical approach to reining in white-collar crime, as law professor J. Kelly Strader explained, stating: “This looks like a huge and powerful company attempting to generate goodwill and appear to be cooperative with the government.”
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Other legal experts called Amazon's behind-the-scenes' moves wise, especially when Big Tech is coming under greater scrutiny.
While federal officials have discretion over which criminal cases they choose to pursue, Amazon has invested significant resources into pushing prosecutors and investigators to take on cases that it prefers. And the company appears to be getting results.
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However, critics argue that Amazon isn't doing enough to police itself. They also express concerns that company's relationship with the federal government will continue to keep government oversight at bay.
DOJ, meanwhile, said it does not favor any company in deciding what to investigate.
How worried are you about the impact of a company like Amazon getting preferential treatment from the government? Tell us in the comments below and any other thoughts you have about Amazon building a tight-knit relationship with the feds!
