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Last year Google has announced that it has paid about $500 million in order to avoid criminal charges against the search giant for illegal pharmaceutical ads. As more and more details of the case are being revealed, the Feds have announced senior Google executives at that time, including Larry Page, knew what the company was doing.

Sometime at the beginning of 2009, a convicted criminal was asked by the Feds to help them set up fake websites in order to catch Google in the act. David Whitaker was in jail for doing such activities which are banned in the US, and he helped the Feds set up websites like NotGrowingOldEasy.com and ask Google to put ads on its search results that would allow people in the US buy drugs without having a prescription.

Whitaker was serving a 6-year conviction, but after helping the Feds, his jail time has been reduced. The fake websites consisted of Mexican and Canadian pharmacies who sold steroids, HGH, hydrocodone, and other drugs without a prescription, and Google knew that what it was doing was illegal. However, after many calls, emails, and up to $200 million invested in the operation, Whitaker and the Feds managed to convince Google to display the ads.

The dream didn’t last long and in the summer of 2009, the Feds exposed the operation and threatened Google with a very long lawsuit that would have been a very bad reputation for Google. It took the search giant and the Feds about two years to strike a deal, and Google agreed to pay as much as $500 million to settle the matters.

Government officials who worked at this operation have revealed that Larry Page knew about Google’s illegal behavior, but decided not to be against it because it would have brought the company a lot of money. This sting has cost Google $500 million, but its reputation hasn’t been too damaged.

Still you cannot ignore the fact that Google’s “don’t be evil mantra is bull***t” just like Steve Jobs once said. I’m not saying that Apple is a good company which cares for the users or its employees, but at least it’s not trying to pose like St. Peter.

A lot of evidence has been leaked on the web which shows that Apple senior executives are aware of the working conditions available at Chinese factories, and if “people would learn about this, they wouldn’t buy our products anymore.” As long as the Chinese laws allow such poor labor conditions, Apple will not intervene and we’re going to see many news about problems at Foxconn’s factories.

Federal officials said that Google initially blocked the deal with Whitaker because it was against the company’s policy, though some sales representatives entered the fray and they helped him to go around the rules. Whitaker followed the suggestions of Google’s sales reps, and when Larry Page saw that it can be done, he decided to go along with it.

The Federal agents added that Google has been aware right from the beginning that the company’s actions were illegal. It appears that Whitaker informed Google that the customs’ officials have seized his shipments.

In the meantime, Larry Page has become Google’s CEO, and the company refused to release more information about the case. When contacted, a search giant’s spokesperson said that Google already took responsibility for what it happened, and that the ads shouldn’t have been displayed.

The feds didn’t say just how many details were familiar to Larry Page, though Whitaker seemed confident that he knew every bit of detail regarding the illicit pharmaceutical ads.