Former AT&T Employee Convicted of Sharing iPhone, BlackBerry Secrets

By Josh Long

A 57-year-old man who worked for AT&T has admitted to sharing company secrets and could face time in prison.

In New York federal court, Alnoor Ebrahim pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, Reuters reported.

His malfeasance: sharing information on sales of certain handsets, including the iPhone.

“I provided insider information concerning AT&T’s sales of Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s Blackberry products, as well as other handset set devices sold through AT&T distribution channels,” Ebrahim was quoted by Reuters as telling U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan.

Prosecutors recommended that Ebrahim be sentenced to a maximum term of two years in prison for his role in a ring where some employees of such specialized firms as Primary Global Research helped funnel corporate secrets from consultants at companies to hedge funds, the report said.

Ebrahim, a native of Tanzania and a naturalized U.S. citizen, was secretly recorded by a former independent financial consultant who made phone calls and wore a body wire at the direction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Wall Street Journal reported.