Ahmad Abouammo
Posted on 12/15/2022 8:14:54 PM PST by SeekAndFind
More troubles for former Twitter employees continue to surface as now one has been convicted of a serious crime and sentenced on Wednesday in San Francisco, California to 3.5 years in prison, U.S. prosecutors said.
All it took for ex-Twitter manager Ahmad Abouammo to abuse his position at the top social media company was a $42,000 watch and a pair of $100,000 wire transfers, to put innocent American at major risk. Now that Elon Musk is in charge and has cleaned house, the company and the country are in a far better position than before, as is becoming evident with each firing and internal file dump.
Abouammo provided a Saudi official with user information in exchange for the luxury watch and cash transfers transfers, which could not have been worth the 3.5 years in prison sentence he ultimately received for his data dealings. However, Abouammo should consider himself lucky despite the sentence, considering prosecutors originally pushed for seven years, Reuters reported.
According to the Daily Caller, “Abouammo was found guilty of spying and money laundering on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government, and using his position at Twitter to acquire information about Twitter users for the Saudi Royal Family in August.”
The max sentencing was up to “decades” in prison. Reuters reports prosecutors were pushing for seven years to “deter others in the technology and social media industry from selling out the data of vulnerable users.” Abouammo’s attorneys reportedly requested a probationary sentence at his home in Seattle with no prison time.
The Daily Caller reported on additional details of the trial that reveals the extent of Abouammo’s crime:
During the August trial, prosecutor Eric Cheng said “they paid for a mole” during his closing argument, noting that Abouammo was paid in bribes three times his salary. “We all know that kind of money is not for nothing,” he said.
Abuoammo managed media for high-profile users in the Middle East and North Africa for Twitter. Abuoammo was arrested in 2019 in Seattle, but was set free on bail until the trial in San Francisco.
Abuoammo’s attorneys noted that he was dealing with financial trouble while at Twitter, saying that he had been “struggling to pay for and deal with serious upheavals in his sister’s life,” which included medical care for her newborn daughter.
Prosecutors said Abouammo, who oversaw Twitter’s relationships with journalists and celebrities in the Middle East and North Africa, conveyed sensitive information from the company’s systems to help Saudi officials identify and locate Twitter users of interest, potentially exposing them to persecution, Reuters reported.
In a press release, the United States Justice Department said Abouammo acted as a foreign agent.
A California man was sentenced yesterday to 42 months in federal prison for his role in accessing, monitoring and conveying confidential and sensitive information that could be used to identify and locate Twitter users of interest to the Saudi Royal Family.
Ahmad Abouammo, 45, formerly of Walnut Creek and currently residing in Seattle, was convicted of acting as a foreign agent without notice to the Attorney General, conspiracy, wire fraud, international money laundering and falsification of records in a federal investigation on Aug. 9 following a two-week jury trial.
“Mr. Abouammo violated the trust placed on him to protect the privacy of individuals by giving their personal information to a foreign power for profit. 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,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “We are committed to holding accountable those who act unlawfully as unregistered foreign agents and advance hidden influence campaigns on behalf of foreign regimes.”
“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,” said U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds for the Northern District of California. “In handing down today’s sentence, the Court emphasized that defendant shared the user information with a foreign government known for not tolerating dissidents, and he did so while working with his even more culpable co-defendant who fled to the KSA rather than face trial. This sentence sends a message to insiders with access to user information to safeguard it, particularly from repressive regimes, or risk significant time in prison.”
“This case exposes attempts by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to illegally obtain personally identifiable information in order to target critics and dissidents,” said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “Anyone working to advance the agenda of a foreign government is required by law to register as a foreign agent of that country. Mr. Abouammo brazenly disregarded this law by exploiting his role at Twitter to not only locate and peddle user information, but to also launder money via the sale of gifts received from the Saudi Royal Family. His sentencing demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering dedication to protecting against any attempt by a foreign government to stalk, harass or intimidate the people within our borders.”
Was he FBI?
Why are all twitter employees named Ahmad Abouammo or Shashi or Vajay or something like that?
.
The question is “Just how infiltrated was Twitter by both communist agents, Islamic extremists, paid insiders re information, etc.”?
In his home country of Saudi Arabia he might get a hand or two chopped off in addition to the prison time. AND, I will bet anything you want that time in the US is highly preferable to the same time in Saudi Arabia...
hmmm. A fraction of what was paid to Hunter Biden.
ping
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was a significant stock holder in Twitter.
Not sure if he still is. The new King, stripped him of a portion of his wealth. He made him a deal he could not refuse.
So. Another foreigner wangles his way here, likely on a student visa and then H1-B and then Green Card - citizenship. He’s a dual US-Lebanese citizen. (As are MANY of ex Twitter/Google employees)
Frankly, is US citizenship should be pulled and send his leftist ass back to Lebanon.
Because Europeans and their descendants are being replaced, deliberately.
Good news.
Because they learned to code;)
Diversity is our strength!!
I’ve wondered the same thing. I think all of them are H1B visa holders, no American born employees allowed!
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