This is a case that belongs to Twitter's past -- but it could be cited as an example of the platform's malfunctions that have been denounced by its new owner.
The Department of Justice said that a former employee of the microblogging platform has been sentenced to 42 months in prison for spying on behalf of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi royal family.
Ahmad Abouammo, 45, formerly of Walnut Creek, Calif., 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. After a federal investigation and a two-week jury trial, he'd been convicted on Aug. 9.
On Dec. 14 he was sentenced "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," the DoJ said in a news release.
Ex-Twitter Staffer Allegedly Received a $42,000 Watch
Abouammo was a media-partnerships manager for the Middle East-North Africa region.
According to evidence provided during the trial, he began receiving bribes from a kingdom official in December 2014 in exchange for accessing Twitter user accounts and conveying information on dissidents and critics of the kingdom to its government officials and the Saudi royal family.
The kingdom official was head of the private office of a royal-family member who, during the relevant time, was a minister of state and then became the minister of defense and deputy crown prince.
Abouammo and the official met in London. During that meeting the former Twitter employee was offered a luxury Hublot watch that he later sold on Craigslist for $42,000.
Following that meeting Abouammo began repeatedly accessing private information about several Twitter accounts, at least one of which was the account of an influential user who was critical of members of the Saudi royal family and the kingdom's government, the Justice Department said.
After the former employee went to Lebanon in February 2015, a bank account was opened in the name of his father there. Abouammo had access to the bank account, which in February 2015 received $100,000 from the Saudi official.
The former Twitter employee then laundered the money by sending it into the U.S. in small wire transfers with "false descriptions."
The account received another $100,000 shortly after Abouammo left Twitter for other employment, accompanied by a note from the official apologizing for the delayed payment.
DoJ: Staffer Traded Personal Data for Profit
“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," said 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."
The DoJ explains that Saudi Arabia had already made several attempts to obtain information on dissenting voices.
"This case exposes attempts by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to illegally obtain personally identifiable information in order to target critics and dissidents,” said Alan E. Kohler Jr., assistant director 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."
In addition to the 42-month prison term, Abouammo was sentenced to three years of supervision following release from prison. The judge also ordered him to return the watch and the cash he received as bribes.
He must surrender on March 31 to begin serving his prison sentence.
