It became known that the former top manager of Netflix Inc. Michael Kail, who served as vice president of information technology at the company, was convicted of accepting bribes from suppliers in exchange for contracts. According to a statement from the prosecutor’s office of the city of San Francisco, where the trial took place, the jury, after two weeks of trial, found Keil guilty of fraud and money laundering.
The prosecution managed to prove that the former top Netflix executive used his position in the company to influence the distribution of contracts in order to “receive bribes from suppliers.” Despite the fact that the trial ended only this week, Netflix sued Keil back in 2014, accusing him of hiding payments from suppliers, which the top manager allegedly transferred to the account of his consulting company.
The lawsuit said that between 2011 and 2014, 49-year-old Cale received bribes totaling $500,000, as well as stock options for nine technology companies that worked with Netflix at the time. The prosecution sought the confiscation of Keil’s real estate, which the jury found bought with funds obtained illegally.
It is worth noting that Michael Cale himself did not admit his guilt, and his lawyer Julia Mezhinsky Jayne intends to appeal the court decision. She noted that the investigation was influenced by Netflix, and her client’s guilt was not proven. Netflix officials declined to comment on the matter.
