Microsoft and Amazon employees involved in obtaining sex-services from trafficked sex-workers
In a shocking revelation, tech giant Microsoft and e-commerce giant Amazon have been accused of being patrons of sex trafficking victims in the Silicon Valley, according to a report published recently by Newsweek.
To obtain the emails, the publication made public records request to the Prosecutor’s Office in King County. The publication got its hands on a slew of filthy emails sent to prostitution houses and pimps between 2014 and 2016 that document the industry’s middle and upper echelon’s patronage of brothels and purchasing of services from trafficked sex workers.
Of all the emails, 67 emails were sent by Microsoft employees, 63 sent by Amazon workers and dozens more from other tech giants like Oracle, T-Mobile, Boeing and local tech firms.
The emails from the employees are all quite alike and most of them are hidden as responses to wrong email addresses.
“I think you might have the wrong email address,” wrote one man with an Amazon work address.
“Think you might have the wrong guy,” wrote another to a pimp from his Microsoft account.
These two emails are just examples from among hundreds of emails sent by tech workers at major companies in the hope of obtaining services of trafficked Asian women. The emails were sent on work accounts of first time buyers in order to verify their identity to pimps and prove that they weren’t cops by sending an employee badge or email.
The law enforcement authorities have been collecting these records from the computers of brothels and illicit sex massage parlor over the past few years.
“Some of the emails were collected during a 2015 sting operation that targeted sex worker review boards and resulted in the arrest of 18 individuals, including high-level Amazon and Microsoft directors,” the report said.
Two of the arrested executives opted for a trial, which is expected to begin in March.
In the meantime, in a statement issued to Newsweek, Microsoft said, “Microsoft has a long history of cooperating with law enforcement and other agencies on combating sex trafficking and related topics, and we have employees who volunteer their time and money specifically to combat this issue as well. The personal conduct of a tiny fraction of our 125,000 employees does not in any way represent our culture. No organisation is immune to the unfortunate situation when employees act unethically or illegally.”
The Redmond giant added, “When that happens, we look into the conduct and take appropriate action. Microsoft makes it clear to our employees they have a responsibility to act with integrity and conduct themselves in a legal and ethical manner at all times. If they don’t, they risk losing their jobs.”
Amazon also gave a similar statement to the publication: “Amazon’s Owner’s Manual clearly states that, ‘It is against Amazon’s policy for any employee or Contingent Worker to engage in any sex buying activities of any kind in Amazon’s workplace or in any work-related setting outside of the workplace, such as during business trips, business meetings or business-related social events.’ When Amazon suspects that an employee has used company funds or resources to engage in criminal conduct, the company will immediately investigate and take appropriate action up to and including termination. The company may also refer the matter to law enforcement.”
The sex industry in Silicon Valley is booming alongside the tech industry, where some men reportedly spending up to $50,000 a year on sex-workers, according to authorities.
