Prosecutors: Saudis recruited 2 Twitter employees as spies

Saudi Arabia recruited two Twitter employees to spy on thousands of accounts that included prominent opponents, U.S. prosecutors have alleged.

A complaint unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco detailed a coordinated effort by Saudi government officials to recruit employees at the social media giant to look up the private data of Twitter accounts, including email addresses linked to the accounts and internet protocol addresses that can give up a user’s location. It appeared to link Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful 34-year-son of King Salman, to the effort.

The accounts looked at included those of a popular Saudi government critic with more than 1 million followers and a news personality who were not named in the complaint. It marks the first time that the kingdom, long linked to the U.S. through its massive oil reserves and regional security arrangements, has been accused of spying in America.

The complaint alleged that the employees were rewarded with a designer watch and tens of thousands of dollars funneled into secret bank accounts. Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. citizen, and Ali Alzabarah, a Saudi citizen, were charged with acting as agents of Saudi Arabia without registering with the U.S. government.

Abouammo was in custody Thursday following a court appearance in Seattle on Wednesday and was scheduled for a detention hearing today. Investigators said Alzabarah is believed to be in Saudi Arabia.