A prominent Amazon consultant pleaded guilty to bribing employees in exchange for confidential company information and favours that gave various sellers a competitive leg-up worth millions.

Ephraim “Ed” Rosenberg is the final of five defendants accused of taking part in the scheme — in which payments were made to Amazon employees in exchange for various advantages — to plead guilty.

Rosenberg ran a high-profile business that gave tips about selling on Amazon. He held massive networking events for Amazon sellers in hometown New York and runs a related Facebook page with 10,000 followers.

In 2020, Rosenberg and others were charged with paying Amazon employees more than A$150,000 in bribes to give merchants they represented an inside track. These clients sold electronics, and diet supplements, among other things.

Prosecutors claim they garnered up to A$150 million in value from the scheme.

According to the indictment, Rosenberg was able to get dangerous products reinstated on the site, negative customer reviews erased, and even a “takedown” in which company consultants co-ordinated an attack that triggered an automatic suspension of a competitor’s product.

“On some occasions, I paid bribes, directly and indirectly, to Amazon employees,” Rosenberg admitted. “These actions were against the law.”

Rosenberg could face up to five years in prison and a fine of as much as $250,000.

“We have robust systems in place to detect suspicious behaviour that we regularly improve upon, and teams who investigate, stop prohibited activity, and proactively report this information to law enforcement and the relevant authorities,” Amazon spokesperson Mira Dix said, adding they acted quickly once they became aware of the scheme.