Spiders, cockroaches, funeral wreaths—ex-eBay executives plead guilty to harassing couple

An eBay sign is seen at an office building in San Jose, California May 28, 2014. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach/File Photo - RTX2BQ1Y

Six former executives at eBay have pleaded guilty for planning a bizarre harassment campaign that involved sending live spiders and more grotesque items to a couple's home.

The UK’s Guardian reported that Ina and David Steiner, the victims of the campaign, run a site that covers news on online and ecommerce retailers. When they published several articles that were critical of eBay, the six accused devised a plan to encourage them to stop writing about their company.

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The campaign involved sending live cockroaches, spiders, funeral wreaths, a bloodied pig mask and even pornography addressed to David Steiner.

One of the executives, David Harville, reportedly even travelled and stalked the Boston-based couple, with the intention of installing a tracking device in their car.

The six were also accused of setting up fake social media accounts to harass the couple online, and leaking their address on social media. Harville and the others were charged in 2020, and the couple also sued eBay's former CEO Devin Wenig, who has denied knowledge of the harassment campaign. Wenig stepped down as CEO in 2019.

The leadership at eBay has denied any involvement in the campaign, saying they weren't aware of the case till being notified by the authorities in 2019. They terminated all employees involved in the case in September of 2019.

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In a press release posted in 2020, eBay said it "was notified by law enforcement in August 2019 of suspicious actions by its security personnel toward a blogger, who writes about the Company, and her husband. eBay immediately launched a comprehensive investigation, which was conducted with the assistance of outside legal counsel, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. As a result of the investigation, eBay terminated all involved employees, including the Company’s former Chief Communications Officer, in September 2019."