A tech worker confessed to being recruited by the CEO of a rival company to spy on the firm where he worked in a plot hatched right out of a James Bond movie, according to court documents.
Keith O’Brien, who worked for San Francisco-based software company Rippling, claimed he was paid more than $5,000 a month by Deel co-founder and CEO Alex Bouaziz to remain at one of Rippling’s satellite offices in Ireland after attempting to land a job at Deel, according to an affidavit made public in an Irish court on Wednesday.
“Alex told me he ‘had an idea.’ He suggested that I remain at Rippling and become a ‘spy’ for Deel, and I recall him specifically mentioning James Bond,” O’Brien wrote in the affidavit.
“About thirty minutes later, I called Alex back over WhatsApp and told him that I was onboard with the plan,” O’Brien added.
Rippling last month filed a lawsuit against Deel alleging racketeering, misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference, unfair competition, as well as aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty.
Rippling and Deel, which specialize in HR operations, are both valued at over $10 billion.
The high-profile corporate espionage case included O’Brien using encrypted texting apps with self-deleting messages and an escape plan to flee to Dubai to evade arrest — before being uncovered in a “honey pot” trap by Rippling, court records show.
In his sworn statement, O’Brien describes how Deel executives meticulously instructed him on what information to obtain from Rippling and how to evade detection.
Communication methods were carefully chosen: code words were used to arrange payments and encrypted Telegram channels with self-destructing messages were established.
O’Brien claims that when his activities were uncovered, a Deel lawyer directed him to physically destroy his mobile phone, defying a legal order, and suggested fleeing with his family to Dubai.
Rippling’s lawsuit implicates Bouaziz and his father Philippe, who acts as Deel’s chairman and CFO.
Neither Alex nor Philippe Bouaziz have publicly commented on the unfolding allegations.
A spokesperson for Deel previously asserted the company’s innocence, stating, “We deny all legal wrongdoing and look forward to asserting our counterclaims.”
The detailed affidavit offers a glimpse into the sophisticated methods used in the espionage operation.
It describes a September call where O’Brien allegedly spoke directly with Alex Bouaziz from his office at Rippling’s Dublin branch, confirming his commitment to spy.
Philippe Bouaziz joined the call shortly thereafter, O’Brien alleged.
According to O’Brien, they agreed on a monthly compensation of around $5,400, setting up dedicated Telegram groups to manage information sharing and payments separately.
O’Brien alleged Alex instructed him to retrieve highly sensitive data including Rippling’s sales leads, internal communications, customer complaints and confidential details about top employees.
Alex also allegedly provided specific keywords to efficiently extract information from Rippling’s internal systems.
The payments were discreetly orchestrated. Philippe instructed O’Brien to use coded language, such as sending pictures of watches, to confirm transactions through an intermediary known only as “the Watchman,” according to court records.
The first payment arrived in November from an account linked to another Deel executive’s wife, according to O’Brien.
Subsequent payments were conducted using Ethereum, a cryptocurrency chosen specifically by Philippe Bouaziz to minimize traceability, according to the affidavit.
The scheme unraveled in February after Deel inadvertently exposed O’Brien’s espionage activities by forwarding some of the leaked documents to a tech journalist, who promptly informed Rippling.
After being alerted, Rippling created a trap —a “honey pot” — that confirmed O’Brien’s spying, court records show.
Realizing he had been caught, O’Brien recounted Alex Bouaziz’s candid reaction: “Oh, sh—.”
Two weeks later, O’Brien was confronted by an independent solicitor serving a court order demanding his phone.
Panicked, O’Brien fled into a restroom, swiftly erasing data from the device before exiting, he said.
He immediately informed Alex Bouaziz, prompting two of Deel’s attorneys to intervene, according to O’Brien.
According to O’Brien, they advised him to relocate with his family to Dubai and assured him that Deel would cover his legal expenses if he remained silent.
Explicitly instructed to destroy his phone, O’Brien smashed it with an ax and discarded the remains down a drain at his mother-in-law’s property, he claimed
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