Originally posted to the Middle East Monitor website, 20 July 2022
The FBI has arrested a Saudi man who has threatened and harassed opponents of the Saudi regime residing in the United States and Canada, the Associated Press reported yesterday.
Ibrahim Alhussayen was said to have targeted Dana Al-Mayouf in 2019 by sending her a message from an anonymous Instagram account, promising to help her “crush” a $5 million lawsuit she faced from a pro-government Saudi fashion model.
Al-Mayouf was asked to hold a face-to-face meeting, but, as this was taking place a year after the dismemberment of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, she refused as she feared being kidnapped and forcibly disappeared in Saudi.
“I can’t meet someone I don’t know,” Al-Mayouf responded. “Especially with all the kidnappings and killings.”
Forty-two-year-old Alhussayen was recently arrested and charged with lying to federal officials about using the fake account to harass and threaten Saudi critics, mostly women, living in the US and Canada.
An FBI spokesman declined to comment on the accusations, and Alhussayen’s lawyer did not respond to multiple requests for comment, nor did the Saudi embassy in Washington.
