DOJ opens criminal investigation into the infamous deel-rippling espionage

Grand Jury subpoenas target $17b HR giant over alleged "criminal syndicate" involving secret moles and crypto payments.

In a dramatic escalation of the most explosive scandal in Silicon Valley history, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has officially opened a criminal investigation into the HR and payroll unicorn Deel. The probe marks a shift from a bitter civil dispute between the two rivals to a federal criminal matter, with prosecutors now examining whether Deel’s leadership orchestrated a systematic racketeering enterprise to infiltrate and sabotage its competitor, Rippling.

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California has reportedly issued grand jury subpoenas seeking evidence related to trade-secret theft, wire fraud, and the use of intermediaries to fund a "corporate spy" operation.

The "smoking gun": 56 seconds to treason

The DOJ's intervention follows the unsealing of bombshell bank records that Rippling obtained through a discovery request to the fintech platform Revolut. The records appear to show a high-speed money-laundering trail:

In November 2024, Deel corporate funds were allegedly transferred to a personal account belonging to Alba Basha, the wife of Deel’s COO, Dan Westgarth.

Just 56 seconds later, the same amount was transferred from that personal account to Keith O’Brien, a high-ranking Rippling employee.

O’Brien, who has since confessed in an Irish court, admitted to being a paid Deel mole for months. He leaked sensitive product roadmaps, sales leads, and Slack conversations directly to Deel’s top brass, including CEO Alex Bouaziz.

RICO and the "Bouaziz Enterprise"

While the case began as a trade-secret lawsuit, Rippling’s legal team has successfully pushed for the inclusion of RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges, a law typically reserved for the Mafia.

Rippling’s amended complaint alleges that the "Bouaziz Racketeering Enterprise" was a "criminal syndicate" that targeted at least four other competitors. The filing describes a paranoid culture of burner phones, encrypted messages, and payments moved via cryptocurrency to "leave no trace."

Deel strikes back

Deel has vehemently denied any criminal wrongdoing, characterizing the entire saga as a desperate "smear campaign" by Rippling CEO Parker Conrad.

"We are not aware of any criminal investigation," a Deel spokesperson said in a statement. "Rippling’s legal house of cards is starting to collapse. We will prove in court that Rippling is the one that infiltrated our platforms and stole our proprietary data."

Deel’s own countersuit alleges that Rippling employed a "Competitive Intelligence Manager" who used fake identities to access Deel's internal systems 58 separate times.

The stakes for Silicon Valley

The DOJ's involvement signals a "new era of accountability" for aggressive competitive research in the tech industry. For Deel, which was valued at $17.3 billion in late 2025 and was actively preparing for a 2026 IPO, a federal criminal probe could be catastrophic.

With white-collar defense attorneys, including some who have represented Elon Musk, now entering the fray, the trial is expected to be the most high-stakes "founder vs. founder" showdown in a generation.