The U.S. Department of Justice has [1]opened a criminal investigation into Deel over [2]allegations that it recruited a spy inside rival Rippling, according to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal. From the report:

> An Ireland-based Rippling employee, Keith O'Brien, alleged in an affidavit filed in April that Deel Chief Executive Alex Bouaziz [3]recruited him and gave him instructions for what information to take from Rippling. O'Brien alleged that other executives were involved in the spying plot, including Bouaziz's father, who is Deel's executive chairman and chief strategy officer.

>

> A spokeswoman for Deel said the company isn't aware of a criminal investigation but is willing to cooperate with authorities. The company has previously said: "We deny all legal wrongdoing and look forward to asserting our counterclaims." Unsealed court documents allege that an entity tied to Deel transferred $6,000 to an account owned by the wife of Chief Operating Officer Dan Westgarth, and that the same amount was forwarded from the account to O'Brien seconds later.



[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/justice-department-opens-criminal-probe-130000392.html

[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/03/18/0436243/software-startup-rippling-sues-competitor-deel-claiming-a-spy-carried-out-corporate-espionage

[3] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/04/02/1517217/alleged-deel-spy-confesses-to-coordinating-with-deel-ceo-alex-bouaziz