Qatar used ex-CIA officer to spy on FIFA: report

2 years ago 273

The tiny Arab federation of Qatar has for years employed a erstwhile CIA serviceman to assistance spy connected shot officials arsenic portion of a no-expense-spared effort to triumph and clasp connected to the 2022 World Cup tournament, an probe by The Associated Press has found.

It’s portion of a inclination of erstwhile US quality officers going to enactment for overseas governments with questionable quality rights records that is worrying officials successful Washington and prompting calls from immoderate members of Congress for greater scrutiny of an opaque and lucrative market.

The World Cup is the planet’s astir fashionable sports tournament. It’s besides a accidental for Qatar, 1 of the wealthiest countries successful the world, to person a coming-out enactment connected the satellite stage.

The AP’s probe recovered Qatar sought an borderline successful securing hosting rights by hiring erstwhile CIA serviceman turned backstage contractor Kevin Chalker to spy connected rival bid teams and cardinal shot officials who picked the victor successful 2010. Chalker besides worked for Qatar successful the years that followed to support tabs connected the country's critics successful the shot world, the AP found.

The AP’s probe is based connected interviews with Chalker’s erstwhile associates arsenic good arsenic contracts, invoices, emails, and a reappraisal of concern documents.

The surveillance enactment included having idiosyncratic airs arsenic a photojournalist to support tabs connected a rival nation’s bid and deploying a Facebook honeypot, successful which idiosyncratic posed online arsenic an charismatic woman, to get adjacent to a target, a reappraisal of the records show. Operatives moving for Chalker and the Persian Gulf sheikhdom besides sought compartment telephone telephone logs of astatine slightest 1 apical FIFA authoritative up of the 2010 vote, a reappraisal of the records show.

Chalker besides promised helium could assistance the state “maintain dominance” implicit its ample colonisation of overseas workers, an interior papers from 1 of Chalker’s companies reviewed by the AP shows. Qatar — a state with a colonisation of 2.8 million, of whom lone 300,000 are citizens — is heavy reliant connected foreign-born labour to physique the stadiums and different infrastructure needed for the tournament.

Qatari authorities officials did not respond to requests for comment. FIFA besides declined to comment.

Chalker, who opened an bureau successful Doha and had a Qatari authorities email account, said successful a connection provided by a typical that helium and his companies would not “ever prosecute successful amerciable surveillance.”

Chalker declined requests for an interrogation oregon to reply elaborate questions astir his enactment for the Qatari government. He besides claimed that immoderate of the documents reviewed by the AP were forgeries.

The AP reviewed hundreds of pages of documents from Chalker’s companies, including a 2013 task update study that had respective photos of Chalker’s unit gathering with assorted shot officials. Multiple sources with authorised entree provided documents to the AP. The sources said they were troubled by Chalker’s enactment for Qatar and requested anonymity due to the fact that they feared retaliation.

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The AP took respective steps to verify the documents’ authenticity. That includes confirming details of assorted documents with antithetic sources, including erstwhile Chalker associates and shot officials; cross-checking contents of documents with contemporaneous quality accounts and publically disposable concern records; and examining physics documents’ metadata, oregon integer history, wherever available, to corroborate who made the documents and when. Chalker did not supply to the AP immoderate grounds to enactment his presumption that immoderate of the documents successful question had been forged.

Many of the documents reviewed by the AP outlining enactment undertaken by Chalker and his companies connected behalf of Qatar are besides described successful a suit filed by Elliott Broidy, a one-time fundraiser for erstwhile U.S. President Donald Trump. Broidy is suing Chalker and has accused him of mounting a wide hacking and spying run astatine Qatar’s absorption that includes utilizing erstwhile occidental quality officers to surveil FIFA officials. Broidy’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. Chalker’s ineligible squad has argued the suit is meritless.

Former associates accidental Chalker’s companies person provided a assortment of services to Qatar successful summation to quality work. His institution Global Risk Advisors bills itself arsenic “an planetary strategical consultancy specialising successful cybersecurity, subject and instrumentality enforcement training, and intelligence-based advisory services” and its affiliates person won tiny contracts with the FBI for a rope-training people and tech consulting enactment for the Democratic National Committee.

Chalker worked astatine the CIA arsenic an operations serviceman for astir 5 years, according to erstwhile associates. Operations officers typically enactment undercover trying to enlistee assets to spy connected behalf of the United States. The CIA declined to remark and does not usually sermon its erstwhile officers.

Chalker’s inheritance successful the CIA was charismatic to Qatari officials, said erstwhile associates.

“That was portion of his mystique. All these young affluent Qataris are playing spy games with this feline and he’s selling them,” said 1 erstwhile associate, who similar others interviewed by the AP, spoke connected the information of anonymity due to the fact that they feared retribution for revealing the spying efforts of Qatar.

The backstage surveillance concern has flourished successful the past decennary successful the Persian Gulf arsenic the portion saw the emergence of an accusation warfare utilizing state-sponsored hacking operations that person coincided with the run-up to the World Cup.

Three erstwhile U.S. quality and subject officials precocious admitted to providing hacking services for a UAE-based company, which was called DarkMatter, arsenic portion of a deferred prosecution statement with the Justice Department. A Reuters probe from 2019 reported that DarkMatter hacked phones and computers of Qatar’s Emir, his brother, and FIFA officials.

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Work overseas by ex-U.S. quality officials has not ever aligned with U.S. interests. The United States was Qatar’s biggest rival to triumph the 2022 World Cup, and erstwhile U.S. President Bill Clinton and different celebrities were portion of the bid effort. One Global Risk Advisors papers lists the United States arsenic a “threat” to Qatar portion Russia, 1 of the U.S.’s biggest geopolitical rivals and the big of the 2018 World Cup, was listed arsenic an “opportunity.”

The Sunday Times of London antecedently reported that unnamed ex-CIA agents helped Qatar’s 2010 bid team. But the AP’s probe is the astir elaborate to day of Qatar’s usage of erstwhile U.S. spies and provides a uncommon look into the satellite of erstwhile Western spies moving successful the Gulf for autocratic governments.

“This is simply a occupation for U.S. nationalist security,” John Scott-Railton, a elder researcher astatine Citizen Lab, a watchdog radical that tracks cyber-surveillance companies. “It’s a truly unsafe happening erstwhile radical who grip the astir delicate secrets of our state are reasoning successful the backmost of their mind, ‘Man, I could truly marque a batch much wealth taking this method cognition that I’ve been trained successful and putting it successful the work of whoever volition wage me.’”

When Qatar was picked arsenic the astonishment victor successful 2010, determination was jubilation successful the country. Sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi, a salient Islamic student said helium was “filled with joy” astatine the announcement and said Qatar had humbled the United States.

But Qatar’s palmy bid has agelong been dogged by allegations of corruption. U.S. prosecutors said past twelvemonth that bribes were paid to FIFA enforcement committee members to summation their votes for Qatar.

Qatar has denied wrongdoing but has besides had to fend disconnected allegations by labour watchdogs of idiosyncratic abuses, and an effort by neighboring countries to isolate, weaken and embarrass it done an economical boycott and informational warfare.

Chalker has pitched his companies, including Global Risk Advisors, arsenic an assertive backstage quality and information bureau Qatar needs to fulfill its ambitions.

“The clip for half-measures is implicit and superior information needs to beryllium fixed to however important the 2022 World Cup is to Qatar,” 1 of Global Risk Advisors’ task documents from 2014, which besides promised a “full-court property utilising unique, non-traditional capabilities against a wide-ranging acceptable of targets.”

Chalker besides promised the Qataris the usage of I.T. and “technical postulation specialists” arsenic good arsenic apical tract operatives with backgrounds successful “highly delicate U.S. quality and subject operations” who could “spot, assess, develop, recruit, and grip assets with entree to persons and topics of interests” connected Qatar’s behalf, institution materials show.

He besides emphasised aggression and discretion, saying his plans included “patsies,” and “lightning rods,” intelligence operations, and “persistent and assertive distractions and disruptions” aimed astatine Qatar’s enemies each portion giving the state “full deniability,” institution records show.

“The top accomplishment to day of Project MERCILESS ... person travel from palmy penetration operations targeting vocal critics wrong the FIFA organisation,” Global Risk Advisors said successful 1 2014 papers describing a task whose minimum projected fund was listed astatine $387 cardinal implicit 9 years. It’s unclear however overmuch the Qataris yet paid the company.

Records amusement Chalker sometimes subcontracted with Diligence, a well-known backstage investigative steadfast successful London founded by erstwhile occidental quality officers.

Diligence conducted surveillance successful 2010 connected the U.S. bid squad by having a fake photojournalist secretly study backmost connected what was happening arsenic FIFA officials toured stadiums successful the U.S. and met with the officials from the country’s bid team, a reappraisal of the records show. Tasked with getting adjacent to 1 unnamed individual, Diligence usage a fake Facebook illustration of an charismatic young pistillate to pass with the target, records show.

Just up of the 2010 bid, Chalker tasked Diligence to get communications and fiscal records of FIFA officials Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, a reappraisal of the records show. Blazer, a erstwhile apical U.S. shot authoritative who pleaded blameworthy to FIFA-related corruption charges and worked arsenic an informant for the FBI, died successful 2017.

Diligence did not respond to requests for comment. Its Swiss affiliate precocious settled a suit with Ghanem Nuseibeh, a London advisor who said his message was stolen and his emails were hacked aft helium wrote a study captious of Qatar hosting the World Cup. Diligence antecedently said successful tribunal records that it lone conducted lawful surveillance connected Nuseibeh.

David Downs, who was the enforcement manager of the U.S. bid effort successful 2010, said he’s not amazed to larn that Qatar was spying connected its rivals fixed however anemic their bid was compared to others.

“It’s precise telling that they would beryllium hiring ex-CIA operatives to get wrong information,” Downs said. “A batch of what they did was either bending the rules oregon outright breaking the rules.”

Global Risk Advisor documents besides item the company’s efforts to triumph implicit Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, a cardinal fig successful the shot satellite who ran unsuccessfully to beryllium FIFA’s president successful 2015 and 2016. In a 2013 document, GRA recommended the Qataris springiness wealth to a shot improvement organisation tally by Ali, saying it would “help solidify Qatar’s estimation arsenic a benevolent beingness successful satellite football.”

A typical for Ali said the prince “has ever had a nonstop bully idiosyncratic narration with Qatar’s rulers. He surely wouldn’t request consultants to assistance with that relationship.”

Qatar has a agelong past of providing favors and household benefits to cardinal influencers wrong FIFA and European soccer.

Top European shot authoritative Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, paid a monolithic good for failing to state 2 Rolex watches connected his instrumentality to Germany from Qatar successful 2013 — 2 years aft helium suggested determination were “questions astir the Qatari World Cup.” And the lad of a apical FIFA official, Belgium’s Michel D’Hooghe, was offered and accepted a occupation successful Qatar soon aft the 2010 vote. A FIFA morals researcher did not link the occupation connection to Qatar’s winning hosting rights and some Rummenigge, and D’Hooghe person denied immoderate wrongdoing.

Swiss prosecutors are presently pursuing corruption charges against Jerome Valcke — FIFA’s CEO-like secretary-general from 2007 to 2015 — successful a lawsuit that involves his acquiring usage of a Qatari-owned luxury villa connected the Italian land of Sardinia.

Valcke, who has denied wrongdoing, oversaw oregon had input into each aspects of the shot body’s dealings for with Qatar for respective years. He was listed arsenic a “potential threat” successful GRA documents from 2013.

The Broidy suit besides alleges that Valcke was 1 of respective FIFA officials Chalker targeted for hacking and surveillance. Valcke told the AP determination “was nary reason” for Qatar to place him successful specified a mode and said helium ne'er felt “any nonstop threats oregon pressure” successful his dealings with the country.

In aboriginal 2017, the Qataris sent a petition that Chalker taxable a connection to supply unit for a cybersecurity unit, arsenic good arsenic grooming to support the royal family, behaviour quality enactment and supply information successful different areas, emails and different records show.

Chalker signed a maestro services agreement, a transcript of which was reviewed by the AP, with Qatar successful August 2017. The signed statement specified that Chalker’s institution could supply consulting connected surveillance, counter-surveillance, and different areas to “intelligence postulation organisations.”

Publicly disposable yearly reports and equilibrium sheets filed successful Gibraltar amusement Chalker-owned ammunition companies saw ample deposits that twelvemonth and ended 2017 with astir $46 cardinal successful funds.

The afloat scope of his enactment for Qatar is unclear but the AP reviewed a assortment of projects Global Risk Advisors projected betwixt 2014 and 2017 amusement proposals not conscionable straight related to the World Cup.

They included “Pickaxe ,” which promised to seizure “personal accusation and biometrics” of migrants moving successful Qatar. “Falconeye” was described arsenic a program to usage drones to supply surveillance of ports and borders operations, arsenic good arsenic “controlling migrant idiosyncratic populations centers.”

“By implementing inheritance investigations and vetting program, Qatar volition support dominance of migrant workers,” 1 institution papers said.

Qatar relied heavy connected overseas workers to physique stadiums and the indispensable infrastructure for the tournament. It's faced disapproval for however the workers person been treated and has not provided afloat details and information connected idiosyncratic deaths .

Another project, “Viper” promised on-site oregon distant “mobile instrumentality exploitation,” which Global Risk Advisors said would present “critical intelligence” and heighten nationalist security. The usage of specified exertion provided by backstage firms is good documented by autocratic countries astir the world, including the Gulf.

In July 2017, a period aft Qatar’s neighbors chopped diplomatic ties and began a years-long boycott of the country, Chalker authored a connection for “Project Deviant.” It called for Global Risk Advisors to supply a robust spying and hacking grooming programme for employees astatine Qatar’s Ministry of Interior “based connected the elite grooming undertaken by (Global Risk Advisors) officers from the U.S. subject and quality agencies. ” Deviant included a 47-week “field operations tradecraft course” that would see grooming connected surveillance, disguises, interrogation techniques, plus recruitment, hand-to-hand combat, and different areas, a GRA connection shows.

The 26-week “technical operations tradecraft course” promised to thatch Qataris with conscionable adjacent conscionable a basal IT inheritance to go world-class hackers with the “necessary knowledge, skills and techniques to usage highly restricted, cutting-edge tools to penetrate people systems and devices, cod and analyse bulk signals data, and to way and find targets to ultra-precise locations,” records show.

The Broidy suit besides alleged that Chalker provided akin grooming to Qatar, noting that erstwhile quality officers are typically prohibited from specified skills with overseas governments.

Specific spying and hacking methods the CIA and different U.S. quality agencies thatch their officers are classified and divulging techniques would beryllium against the law. But there’s nary wide prohibition connected moving for overseas governments, and distinctions are not ever wide betwixt what methods are classified and what are not.

“That enactment tin beryllium hard to gully erstwhile it comes to tradecraft that is commonly used,” said Bobby Chesney, a prof astatine the University of Texas School of Law who specialises successful nationalist information issues.

Wealthy countries successful the Gulf person proven anxious to prosecute ex-U.S. quality officials. A backstage institution started by retired Gen. Keith Alexander, who erstwhile led the National Security Agency, signed a declaration successful 2018 with the Prince Mohammed bin Salman College of Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technologies. The country's person — and the school's namesake — has been accused of utilizing spyware against critics, journalists and others. Brian Bartlett, a spokesperson for Alexander, said the declaration has expired and was “focused connected the improvement of the college’s acquisition efforts and its cybersecurity curriculum.”

The CIA sent a missive to erstwhile employees earlier this twelvemonth informing of a “detrimental trend” of overseas governments hiring erstwhile quality officers “to physique up their spying capabilities,” according to a transcript of the missive obtained by the AP and archetypal reported by the New York Times.

“We inquire that you support yourself and the CIA by safeguarding the classified tradecraft that underpins your enterprise,” wrote Sheetal Patel, the agency’s adjunct manager for counterintelligence.

US lawmakers too, are taking notice. Congress is advancing authorities that would enactment caller reporting requirements connected erstwhile U.S. quality officers moving overseas.

Congressman Tom Malinowski, a Democrat from New Jersey, said it was “absurd” that Qatar and the UAE had erstwhile U.S. officials moving the beforehand lines of their accusation warfare and said it’s portion of a broader occupation astir however influential those affluent countries are successful U.S. authorities and policymaking.

“There’s truthful overmuch Gulf wealth flowing done Washington D.C.,” helium said. “The magnitude of temptation determination is immense, and it invariably entangles Americans successful worldly we should not beryllium entangled.”

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