Former Twitter employee who once lived in Walnut Creek sold people’s personal information to the Saudi Arabian government
A federal jury has convicted a one-time Twitter employee and Walnut Creek resident of acting as an unregistered agent for a foreign government and illegally using Twitter information, officials said.
Seattle resident Ahmed Abuammo, 44, was also convicted of conspiracy, obstruction, wire fraud, international money laundering and falsification of records in a federal investigation, according to a statement from US Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds for the Northern District of California . , The jury delivered its verdict on 10 August after a two-week trial.
Officials said the crimes stemmed from a bribery scheme aimed at accessing, monitoring and conveying user information to officials in Saudi Arabia and its royal family.
Abuammo could face a maximum federal prison sentence of 10 years for acting as a foreign agent and a maximum sentence of 20 years in each other case.
Hinds said court documents and evidence presented at the trial showed that Abuammo used his position as Twitter’s media partnership manager for the Middle East-North Africa region to participate in the scheme. AbuAmmo was responsible for protecting Twitter user information and disclosing violations of Twitter’s security policies.
Gifts from those who had business transactions with the company were to be reported, but Hinds said they were not. When asked about this, Hinds said that Abuammo lied to the FBI and falsified a document.
Evidence from the trial showed that Abuammo began taking bribes from a Saudi Arabian official in early December 2014. According to Hinds, Abu’Ammo met with a foreign official in London and obtained a Hublot watch that Abu’lmo later said sold on Craigslist for $42,000. Hinds said Abuammo began accessing the private information of certain Twitter accounts, including one that was critical of the Saudi royal family.
Trial evidence also revealed that Abuammo had gone to Lebanon in February 2015 and opened a bank account in the name of his father who lived in the country. Abuammo gained access to the account; A short time later, $100,000 was deposited into the account from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
According to Hinds, Abuammo laundered that $100,000 by sending it to the United States in small wire transfers and using false details. Shortly after AbuAmmo left Twitter in May 2021, he received another $100,000 in the same account, along with a note of apology for the delayed payment, Hinds said.
The FBI interrogated Abuammo in October 2018. Hinds said trial evidence showed he lied to the agency and falsified an invoice for one of the payments he received from a foreign official.
FBI agents arrested him on November 5, 2019, and a federal grand jury returned an indictment on July 28, 2020.
Officials said a date for Abuammo’s sentencing has not been set.
