Former Twitter employee Ahmad Abouammo, 44, was convicted by a jury after a two-week trial in San Francisco on charges that he supplied private information about certain Twitter users to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
“These individuals are charged with targeting and obtaining private data from dissidents and known critics under the direction and control of the government of Saudi Arabia. Insider threats pose a critical threat to American businesses and our national security,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.<\/p>\n
Abouammo faces up to 20 years in prison after being charged in 2018 with acting as an “illegal agent” of Suadi along with Ali Alzabarah and Ahmed Almutairi (Ahmed Aljbreen).<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say Abouammo and Alzabarah joined Twitter in 2013 and were recruited by officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for unmasking its critics on the social media platform.<\/p>\n
Court documents showed that the two people used their access to internal systems to gain unauthorized access to non-public information about users of specific accounts that were critical of the regime.<\/p>\n
The information gathered by the accused include email addresses, telephone numbers, IP addresses and date of birth. This information was handed over to the officials and Abouammo was rewarded with a US$300,000 cash gift and a US$40,000 Hublot Unico Big Bang King Hold Ceramic watch.<\/p>\n
Alzabarah fled the U.S. in December 2015 with the help of Almutairi, while Abouammo was arrested on November 5, 2019.<\/p>\n