Dubliner Keith O’Brien has alleged he was induced by Deel chief executive Alex Bouaziz to pass on sensitive company information in return for payments of $6,000 (€5,500) a month.
The first of these payments was made via Revolut, he claimed in an affidavit, and he believed it came via the account of Alba Basha, the wife of Deel’s chief operating officer Dan Westgarth.
Mr O’Brien said subsequent payments were made in cryptocurrency.
The sensational corporate espionage claims emerged earlier this year in litigation in Ireland and California. Deel has denied any wrongdoing.
Both companies are headquartered in San Francisco and have multi-billion dollar valuations.
Now records disclosed to a federal court in San Francisco indicate $6,000 was transferred from a Deel corporate account to an account registered to Ms Basha on November 4 last year. Deel classified the payment as a corporate expense.
The records indicate that 56 seconds later, the same sum was paid out of Ms Basha’s account to Mr O’Brien.
The records became publicly available after a judge ruled there was not “any significant privacy interest apparent when it comes to the transactions at the heart of this case: a payment from Lets Deel Ltd to Basha, followed by a corresponding payment from Basha to O’Brien”.
In a statement, Deel said there was “nothing new” in the documents and that it had not contested their unsealing.
Rippling terminated Mr O’Brien’s employment and sued him after the alleged scheme came to light earlier this year. He had been working out of its Dublin office.
However, the High Court later heard the firm’s lawsuit against him was settled as a result of his decision to co-operate. The focus of Rippling’s lawsuit has now switched to Deel and senior figures in the company.
Deel has sought to portray Mr O’Brien as “a paid witness”, financially dependent on Rippling, without whom Rippling’s claims would collapse.
Under an agreement with Rippling, Mr O’Brien agreed to co-operate with any litigation worldwide in respect of the dispute.
Rippling’s claims against Mr O’Brien were waived, subject to a right for the company to re-enter proceedings against him in the event of a material breach of the agreement.
The firm also reserves the right to enter a judgment against him for €150,000 if the agreement is breached.
Under the agreement, Rippling has agree to pay all reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred by Mr O’Brien in complying, including all future legal, travel and other associated costs for himself and two advisers.
It also provides for the payment of €80,000 plus Vat towards his legal costs and a €10,000 plus Vat contribution towards fees owed to an accountancy firm.
Rippling also agreed to indemnify Mr O’Brien in the US legal proceedings.
The agreement includes a mutual non-disparagement clause.
Deel said it would ask the High Court to compel the production of further documentation it believes may show Mr O’Brien has other financial incentives to align himself with Rippling.
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