An alleged bribery scheme involving officers with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and the issuing of concealed-carry weapons permits grew wider Monday as the District Attorney revealed that Apple's head of security also has been indicted.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said during a news conference that Santa Clara County Undersheriff Rick Sung, who was indicted last week, and sheriff's Capt. James Jensen, also previously indicted, held back a conceal-carry permit to Apple's security team until Thomas Moyer, head of global security for the Cupertino-based company, agreed to donate nearly $70,000 worth of iPads.
Click here to see the indictment and grand jury witness list.
"The donation was pulled back at the eleventh hour when our search warrants into this probe began," Rosen said.
Moyer's attorney said he was shocked the District Attorney is pursuing charges against his client.
"Tom Moyer is innocent of these charges," attorney Ed Swanson said. "There's absolutely no evidence that he engaged in any illegal conduct because he didn't."
Campaign finance records reviewed by NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit show Moyer and another Apple executive each donated $1,000 to Smith's election campaign in 2018.
Around the same time, four Apple security officers were granted concealed gun permits by the Sheriff's Office, according to records obtained by NBC Bay Area under the California Public Records Act.
An NBC Bay Area investigation earlier this year found donors to the Sheriff Smith's campaigns were about 14 times more likely to be granted a concealed gun permit, according to campaign finance records and CCW records from the Sheriff's Office.
But Swanson said Apple security personnel had legitimate reasons to need concealed gun permits and the four permits were obtained through the standard process.
"There was zero quid pro quo," Swanson said. "There was no pay to play. There was none of that in this case. The iPads were not offered for anything other than a corporate donation to support a new sheriff program."
Though Moyer was the only Apple employee indicted, the grand jury heard from a number of people at the company.
More than a third of the 32 witnesses who appeared before the grand jury appear to be Apple employees, according to a search of LinkedIn and social media profiles. Most of the others are Sheriff's Office employees.
Sung and Jensen have been charged with felony bribery in the scheme in which some of the money exchanged for the CCW permits had been funneled into Sheriff Laurie Smith's re-election campaign, the DA said. Sung was placed on administrative leave when his indictment was revealed Friday.
Sung's attorney Chuck Smith on Monday said: "This is a stain on his reputation and the work he’s devoted himself to, so we intend to defeat it and remove this stain from his name."
Moyer's attorney also released a statement Monday in response to the charges, saying in part, "Tom Moyer is innocent of the charges filed against him. … Ultimately, this case is about a long, bitter and very public dispute between the Santa Clara County Sheriff and the District Attorney, and Tom is collateral damage to that dispute."
In another indictment, a concealed-carry license was withheld from insurance broker Harpreet Chadha until Sung managed to extract from Chadha a promise of $6,000 worth of luxury box seat tickets to a San Jose Sharks hockey game at SAP Center on Valentine’s Day 2019, Rosen said. Sheriff Smith’s family members and some of her biggest political supporters held a celebration of her re-election as Sheriff in Chadha’s luxury suite.
Seven people have been charged in the scheme, Rosen said. No charges have been brought against Smith.
