Two former employees at Twitter Inc. have been charged for spying on users for the Saudi government, prosecutors revealed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco today.

According to the Justice Department, the two are named Ahmad Abouammo, a citizen of the U.S., and Ali Alzabarah, a Saudi citizen. A third man, a Saudi citizen named Ahmed Almutairi, was charged with spying, although it’s said he acted as an intermediary between Saudi officials and the Twitter employees.

“The criminal complaint unsealed today alleges that Saudi agents mined Twitter’s internal systems for personal information about known Saudi critics and thousands of other Twitter users,” U.S. Attorney David Anderson said in a statement. “U.S. law protects U.S. companies from such an unlawful foreign intrusion. We will not allow U.S. companies or U.S. technology to become tools of foreign repression in violation of U.S. law.”

According to court documents, Abouammo worked with Twitter from 2013 to 2015, during which time he was acting as agent for the Saudi government. He appeared in court on Wednesday, although the other two men are believed to have gone back to Saudi Arabia. Federal warrants have been issued for their arrest.

Alzabarah, who Justice said accessed the information of at least 6,000 Twitter users, had been placed on administrative leave after his supervisors became suspicious of his activities. Soon after, he took his wife and child back to his home country.

For spying on certain users, generally critics of Saudi Arabia, the men were promised tens of thousands of dollars a day and designer watches, according to court documents.

“We recognize the lengths bad actors will go to try and undermine our service,” Twitter said in a statement. “Our company limits access to sensitive account information to a limited group of trained and vetted employees. We understand the incredible risks faced by many who use Twitter to share their perspectives with the world and to hold those in power accountable.”

Image: Andreas Eldh/Flickr