A former Twitter employee who spied on users on behalf of the Saudi royal family has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Egyptian-born Ahmed Abu Ramo, who lives in the United States, took bribes from Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman to silence the prince’s opposition. It said it released sensitive account information that could be tracked.
Photo: CNBC
Prosecutors say Abu Ram, who was Twitter’s manager of media partnerships, took bribes from the Saudi prince in 2015.
Abu Ramo said he did his own work, but the investigation revealed that Abu Ramo obtained $300,000 and a $20,000 Hublot watch from someone who worked for the actor.
The case was investigated last August and two other accomplices were involved in the case. One of the two, Saudi national Ali al-Zabarat, is a former Twitter employee who accessed the personal information of more than 6,000 accounts, including that of prominent dissident Omar Abdulaziz, prosecutors said.
A third person, Ahmed Almutairi, was not a Twitter employee, but a liaison between Twitter employees and the Saudi government.
Of the three, only Abu Ramo was charged in the United States. Now he has been sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison for spying for the Saudi government.
