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psunite · Joined: 27 Jan 2005 Posts: 6213 Location: Columbus OH

Last summer, with no fanfare, federal prosecutors indicted a New York man for sending threats to eBay and unidentified executives of the San Jose-based online auction giant.

In a case with an unusual cloak of pretrial secrecy, documents filed in federal court do not name the targets of the alleged threats. But as it turns out, Florin Horicianu, who is charged with sending the threats in e-mails and other correspondence, aimed high: He is accused of directing them at billionaire eBay chairman and founder Pierre Omidyar and Chief Executive Meg Whitman, among others.link to article

Havaauction · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 212 Location: Lake Havasu City

Link to article, ya gotta sign up!

psunite · Joined: 27 Jan 2005 Posts: 6213 Location: Columbus OH

Well thats crappy. Here is the whole article

Trial on threats to eBay execs to start

By Howard Mintz

Mercury News

Last summer, with no fanfare, federal prosecutors indicted a New York man for sending threats to eBay and unidentified executives of the San Jose-based online auction giant.

In a case with an unusual cloak of pretrial secrecy, documents filed in federal court do not name the targets of the alleged threats. But as it turns out, Florin Horicianu, who is charged with sending the threats in e-mails and other correspondence, aimed high: He is accused of directing them at billionaire eBay chairman and founder Pierre Omidyar and Chief Executive Meg Whitman, among others.

Horicianu goes on trial Tuesday in federal court in San Jose. Whitman and Omidyar are among the witnesses expected to testify in a case that could put Horicianu in federal prison.

To prosecutors, Horicianu, a Romanian national who had a $7,200 business dispute with eBay in 2003, is a man who crossed the line into criminal conduct when he kept sending threats to company executives and even showed up outside company headquarters. ``I will haunt and hurt you and your family,'' said one e-mail to an eBay official.

Horicianu, who ignored two restraining orders to stop e-mailing and calling Omidyar and an eBay security official before being indicted, is charged with sending threatening communications and extortion.

To Horicianu's lawyers, the case is a misguided attempt to put a mentally troubled man in prison. In court papers, defense lawyers say Horicianu's communications with eBay suggested suicide, not threats to others. And they say any charge against Horicianu should have been a minor state case for violating restraining orders in place against him, not a federal indictment.

They maintain that eBay's corporate influence is driving the government's case.

``Mr. Horicianu's communications with eBay only threatened to harm himself,'' said Jay Rorty, an assistant federal public defender. ``If you or I received these e-mails, would the Secret Service and U.S. Attorney's Office respond by prosecuting the sender? Or do the Secret Service and U.S. Attorney's Office only respond when wealthy and powerful people such as Meg Whitman and Pierre Omidyar seek a prosecution?''

Luke Macaulay, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined comment on the case. EBay spokesman Hani Durzy also said the company and its executives would not discuss the case.

But documents filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court by eBay officials show how a small contract dispute was transformed into a federal case.

EBay terminated a common arrangement Horicianu had with a third-party company that enabled him to refer clients to eBay in exchange for commission payments. Company officials, court records show, accused Horicianu of creating phony traffic from Romanian Internet cafes to inflate his contributions.

Horicianu vigorously disputed the accusations and contended the company owed him more than $7,000. In spring 2003, he started sending e-mails to eBay executives, demanding meetings with Omidyar and Whitman or he would take action. And according to the indictment, he sent e-mails demanding $800,000 overall ``to stop hunting you and your family.''

A declaration filed by eBay in Superior Court said the e-mails left the company ``increasingly concerned'' for Omidyar's safety. At eBay's request, two Superior Court judges ordered Horicianu to stop communicating with Omidyar and a top eBay security official. But federal prosecutors allege Horicianu didn't stop, culminating in further threats to Whitman and others last May.

The government has not named Omidyar and Whitman in any court documents. U.S. District Judge James Ware agreed to the government's request to keep their names out of public court filings. But their names have been mentioned in recent court hearings, and the government's witness list includes the ``CEO'' of the victim company (eBay) and ``chairman.''

Rorty confirmed that Whitman and Omidyar are among the alleged victims.

If convicted, Horicianu could be looking at three years in prison.

Horicianu's defense at trial will be simple: He will argue that he never intended to threaten anyone. Court papers show that many of his e-mails said he would kill himself if eBay would not pay him and resolve his grievances with the company.

``The e-mails charged in the indictment are in the form of a suicide note,'' Rorty said.

psunite · Joined: 27 Jan 2005 Posts: 6213 Location: Columbus OH

Follow up article

Unhappy eBay user admits to threatening execs

CrystalStar · Joined: 06 Mar 2005 Posts: 3571

WOW. Seems like I remember not too long ago a few people claiming no one had ever threatened EBay officials. Wonder how much crow they are eating now?? :shock: :shock: :shock: :)