- A former Rippling employee has admitted to receiving payments in Ethereum for corporate espionage
- The scheme has been tied to executives at Deel, a U.S.-based HR tech company, including its CEO and CFO
- The High Court of Ireland has been presented with evidence showing encrypted messaging, secret crypto payments, and attempts to destroy evidence
A corporate espionage scandal in Ireland has placed Ethereum at the center of an explosive legal battle between HR tech giants. Keith O’Brien, a former compliance manager at Rippling, has sworn in an affidavit that he spied on his employer for rival firm Deel in exchange for monthly payments in ether. The case, filed in Ireland’s High Court, reveals an elaborate scheme involving encrypted apps, burner phones, and a crypto payment trail designed to leave “no trace.”
ETH For Espionage
In his sworn statement, O’Brien recounts how Deel CEO Alex Bouaziz recruited him to act as a spy within Rippling in exchange for €5,000 per month. The first payment was made through his bank, but O’Brien revealed that “Soon after I received the initial payment, Philippe Bouaziz [Deel CFO] informed me that future payments would be made via cryptocurrency, as this method would leave ‘no trace’.” These payments were made to O’Brien’s Blockchain.com wallet in Ethereum and later liquidated into his Irish bank account.
Telegram, the encrypted messaging app, was used for daily communications, with “All of the Telegram chats…set to automatically delete after 24 hours,” O’Brien added. “Alex told me to ‘be careful’ and ‘clean up’.”
O’Brien Passed on Crucial Company Details
O’Brien admits to passing on Rippling’s confidential strategies, customer lists, and product development plans. He used Slack, Salesforce, and internal tools to gather and transmit the data. “Alex was particularly interested in Rippling’s strategies around global payroll and expansion efforts,” he revealed. Notably, some of this data was inadvertently backed up to his iCloud, now submitted as evidence.
After being served with a High Court order on March 14, 2025, O’Brien claims Deel’s legal team advised him to destroy evidence and fabricate a narrative involving “sanctioned Russian payments” to authorities. “Deel’s lawyer Asif said, ‘don’t worry, PSG is going to sort all this out,’” O’Brien wrote, referring to Bouaziz by the name of his favorite soccer team.
The affidavit concludes with O’Brien stating he decided to come clean after suffering emotional distress. “I realized that I was harming myself and my family to protect Deel… I want to do what I can to start making amends and righting these wrongs.”
