Ex-Twitter worker gets 3-1/2 year prison sentence for spying for Saudi Arabia

Dec 15, 2022 9:37 AM PHT

Reuters

SUMMARY

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Ex-Twitter worker gets 3-1/2 year prison sentence for spying for Saudi Arabia

Ahmad Abouammo's Linkedin Page

Ahmad Abouammo is guilty of accepting bribes and conveying sensitive information from the company's systems to help Saudi officials identify and locate Twitter users of interest

OAKLAND, USA – A former Twitter manager convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia was sentenced to 3-1/2 years in U.S. prison, prosecutors said on Wednesday, December 14.

Ahmad Abouammo had been found guilty by a jury in August following a trial in San Francisco federal court. He had faced a 10-year prison sentence on one count and 20-year sentences each on several other charges.

Starting as early as 2014, Abouammo accepted bribes from Saudi officials, prosecutors said. At Twitter, he helped oversee relationships with journalists and celebrities in the Middle East and North Africa. He was convicted of conveying sensitive information from the company’s systems to help Saudi officials identify and locate Twitter users of interest.

Federal public defenders representing Abouammo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Twitter, recently taken over by Elon Musk, also did not immediately respond to request for comment. – Rappler.com