Washington (Daily Pakistan Online) Officials of the US Department of Justice have said that a former employee of Twitter has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for spying for Saudi authorities. Ahmed Abuamo was found guilty in August of criminal charges including money laundering, fraud and being an illegal agent of a foreign government. Prosecutors in San Francisco federal court told jurors that Abuamo sold Twitter user information seven years ago in exchange for cash and an expensive watch.
According to NDTV, Abuamu’s defense team, 45, claimed in court that he did nothing but accept gifts from the Saudis for his client’s management work. In closing remarks to the jury, U.S. prosecutor Colin Sampson said the evidence showed the suspect had sold his position to a close associate of the Saudi crown prince, thinking no one was watching.
According to court documents, Abuamo left Twitter in 2015 and took a job at e-commerce company Amazon in Seattle. The jury found Abuamo guilty of six of the 11 charges against him.
The defendant’s attorney admitted to the jury that Abuamo violated Twitter’s employee rules by not telling the San Francisco-based company that he had received $100,000 in cash and $40,000 from a close associate of the Saudi crown prince. A watch of more was received.
