San Francisco/New York: An East Twitter Ink manager charge spying for saudi arabia He was convicted on Tuesday of six criminal counts, including acting as an agent for the country and trying to hide payments from an official linked to the Saudi royal family.
Ahmed Abuammo, a dual US-Lebanese citizen who helped oversee Twitter relationships with journalists and celebrities in the Middle East and North Africa, pleaded guilty after a 2-1/2-week trial in San Francisco federal court. Gone.
The jurors acquitted him in five of the 11 cases.
Federal public defenders representing Abuammo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Twitter declined to comment.
Prosecutors said Badr al-Askar, a close adviser to Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin SalmanAbuammo to use his insider knowledge to access Twitter accounts and dig up personal information about Saudi dissidents.
Those accounts reportedly included the pseudonym of @mujtahidd, a political agitator who gained millions of Twitter followers in the Arab Spring uprising by accusing the Saudi royal family of corruption and other misdeeds.
Prosecutors said Abuammo got at least $300,000 and $20,000 worth of the luxury watch from al-Askar, and hid the money by depositing it in a relative’s account in Lebanon and depositing it in his own account in the United States.
Defense lawyers argued that what Abuammo did on Twitter was part of his job.
Abuammo was also convicted wire fraud and honest service fraud, Money laundering and conspiracy charges.
US Attorney Stephanie Hinds in San Francisco said in a statement, “The government demonstrated, and the jury, found that AbuAmmo violated a sacred trust to hold personal personal information from Twitter customers and that private customer information was transferred to a foreign government.” sold to.”
Ali Alzabarah, a former aide of Abuammo, also accused of accessing Twitter accounts on behalf of Saudi Arabia, left the United States before the allegations were made. Saudi Crown Prince Al-Askar and Twitter are not among the defendants.
Ahmed Abuammo, a dual US-Lebanese citizen who helped oversee Twitter relationships with journalists and celebrities in the Middle East and North Africa, pleaded guilty after a 2-1/2-week trial in San Francisco federal court. Gone.
The jurors acquitted him in five of the 11 cases.
Federal public defenders representing Abuammo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Twitter declined to comment.
Prosecutors said Badr al-Askar, a close adviser to Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin SalmanAbuammo to use his insider knowledge to access Twitter accounts and dig up personal information about Saudi dissidents.
Those accounts reportedly included the pseudonym of @mujtahidd, a political agitator who gained millions of Twitter followers in the Arab Spring uprising by accusing the Saudi royal family of corruption and other misdeeds.
Prosecutors said Abuammo got at least $300,000 and $20,000 worth of the luxury watch from al-Askar, and hid the money by depositing it in a relative’s account in Lebanon and depositing it in his own account in the United States.
Defense lawyers argued that what Abuammo did on Twitter was part of his job.
Abuammo was also convicted wire fraud and honest service fraud, Money laundering and conspiracy charges.
US Attorney Stephanie Hinds in San Francisco said in a statement, “The government demonstrated, and the jury, found that AbuAmmo violated a sacred trust to hold personal personal information from Twitter customers and that private customer information was transferred to a foreign government.” sold to.”
Ali Alzabarah, a former aide of Abuammo, also accused of accessing Twitter accounts on behalf of Saudi Arabia, left the United States before the allegations were made. Saudi Crown Prince Al-Askar and Twitter are not among the defendants.