For his role in accessing, monitoring, and communicating confidential and sensitive information that could have been used to locate Twitter users of interest to the Saudi Royal Family, a California man was given a sentence of 42 months in federal prison yesterday.
After a two-week jury trial, 45-year-old Ahmad Abouammo was found guilty of acting as a foreign agent without notifying the Attorney General, conspiracy, wire fraud, international money laundering, and falsifying records in a federal investigation on Aug. 9.
“By selling individuals’ personal information to a foreign power for profit, Mr. Abouammo violated the trust that was placed in him to protect their privacy. According to Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, “His conduct was made all the more egregious by the fact that the information was intended to target political dissidents speaking out against that foreign power.” We are committed to holding those responsible for advancing covert influence campaigns on behalf of foreign regimes and acting illegally as unregistered foreign agents accountable.
U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds of the Northern District of California stated, “This case revealed that foreign governments, here the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), will bribe insiders to obtain the user information that is collected and stored by our Silicon Valley social media companies.” The Court emphasized in imposing today’s sentence that the defendant shared user information with a foreign government known for its hostility toward dissidents while working with his even more culpable co-defendant, who fled to the Saudi Arabian Arab Republic in order to avoid trial. Insiders who have access to user data are warned by this sentence to protect it, especially from oppressive regimes, or face significant prison time.
According to Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, “this case exposes attempts by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to illegally obtain personally identifiable information in order to target critics and dissidents.” By law, anyone working to advance the agenda of a foreign government must register as that country’s foreign agent. Mr. Abouammo flagrantly disregarded this law by utilizing his position at Twitter to not only locate and sell user data but also to launder money through the sale of Saudi royal family gifts. The FBI’s unwavering commitment to preventing foreign governments from stalking, harassing, or intimidating citizens within our borders is demonstrated by his sentence.
Abouammo began receiving bribes from a KSA official as early as December 2014, according to trial evidence. As a Media Partnerships Manager for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Abouammo worked at Twitter. Abouammo was required by the policies of Twitter to safeguard the information of Twitter users, disclose any conflicts of interest, and report any gifts from individuals whose businesses involved Twitter. However, the evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Abouammo lied to FBI investigators and falsified a document when questioned about the transactions in October 2018, accepting bribes from KSA officials in exchange for accessing Twitter user accounts and relaying information on KSA dissidents and critics to their government officials and the Saudi Royal family. The KSA official was in charge of the “private office” of a member of the royal family who, at the time, was Minister of State, then Minister of Defense and Deputy Crown Prince.
According to the evidence, the foreign official met with Abouammo in December 2014 in London and gave him a high-end Hublot watch. When he put the watch up for sale on Craigslist later, Abouammo mentioned that it was worth $42,000. After the gathering in London, Abouammo started over and again getting to private data about a few Twitter accounts, no less than one of which was the record of a compelling client who was condemning of individuals from the Saudi Regal Family and the KSA government. In addition, Abouammo continued to communicate with a Saudi Arabian official, including regarding the influential critical account. Abouammo’s father opened a bank account in Lebanon in February 2015, and Abouammo was able to access that account, according to evidence presented at trial. The foreign official then deposited $100,000 into the account in February 2015, and Abouammo used small, bogus wire transfers to bring the money into the United States. After Abouammo left Twitter for a different job, the account received an additional $100,000 along with a note from the official expressing regret for the delayed payment.
Abouammo was questioned by FBI agents about his involvement in the scheme with KSA officials at his residence in October 2018. At trial, the evidence showed that Abouammo gave the FBI investigators false information and a false invoice for one of the payments he got from the foreign official.
Judge Chen said that Abouammo’s actions were “serious” and “consequential” when he sentenced him, and that “exposing dissident information is a serious offense.” Abouammo was given a sentence of three years of supervision following his release from prison by Judge Chen, in addition to a sentence of 42 months in prison. issued a $242,000 forfeiture judgment for the watch and cash Abouammo received as bribes; and instructed Abouammo to surrender on March 31, 2023, in order for him to begin serving time in prison.
The case was looked into by the FBI.
Collaborator U.S. Lawyers Colin Sampson and Eric Cheng for the Northern Locale of California and Preliminary Lawyer Christine Bonomo of the Public safety Division’s Counterintelligence and Commodity Control Area arraigned the case, with the help of Beth Margen and Alycee Path.
