Former Twitter Employee was Ordered to Serve 3 1/2 Years in Prison After Spying for Saudi Regime

After being charged in August, Former Twitter employee Ahmad Abouammo was ordered to serve three and a half years in prison after being part of a scheme to acquire users' personal information for a Saudi government agent.

(Photo : JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)
US District Court, Western District of Washington is pictured in Seattle on November 8, 2019. - The allegations of spying by former Twitter employees for Saudi Arabia underscore the risks for Silicon Valley firms holding sensitive data which make the platforms ripe for espionage.

Serving 3 1/2 Years in Prison

Former Twitter employee and dual US-Lebanese citizen Ahmad Abouammo has been sentenced for three and a half years in prison, after being found guilty for spying on users on behalf of the Saudi Regime.

Bloomberg reported that the sentence was handed down by a federal judge in San Francisco federal court. He was part of a scheme to acquire the personal information of critics like phone numbers and birth dates, to comply with Saudi Arabia.

US District Judge Edward Chen stated during the sentencing hearing, "The seriousness of the offense is something that is prominent in this setting because of the nature of the trust that was violated." He added that there were personal attenuating circumstances given as Abouammo has not been able to secure employment and filed for bankruptcy.

As per the Justice Department, two of Abouammo's co-defendants fled to Saudi Arabia to evade the American authorities. One of them also worked with Twitter, NBC News reported.

Before his sentence, Abouammo stated, "I'm sincerely saddened and remorseful about the entire case." He also added that this case would hurt his three children, his wife, and his parents. He worked as a media partnership manager for Twitter in 2015 and promoted the nascent social media network in the Middle East and North Africa.

Assistant United States Attorney Colin Sampson stated that Abouammo's sentence is a message to technology company workers in Silicon Valley that selling out information to foreign governments will not be tolerated.

Also Read: Huawei Faces Lawsuit After Allegedly Spying on Pakistan Citizens from Stolen Tech

Abouammo's Conviction

The former employee was convicted of charges last August to turn over the personal information of platform users who would use anonymous accounts to criticize the Saudi Regime and its royal family.

He was found guilty in San Francisco federal court for acting as an agent for Saudi Arabia, money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and falsifying records. He was supposed to face 10 to 20 years in prison.

This case gained attention during congress when a former security chief of Twitter told Congress that the platform had lax data protections and sparked concerns among lawmakers and cyber experts that it posed a national threat.

Evidence was shown that Abouammo received a Hublot watch and $300,000 in wire transfers. As per Reuters, US described these as bribes to aid the de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, in exchange for confidential information.