Deel allegedly paid €5,000 in crypto to spy on competitor
An Irish man who confessed to spying for payroll firm Deel while working for rival company Rippling claims to have been paid in crypto as part of an alleged James Bond-inspired plot. Rippling filed a lawsuit against Deel in March 2025, accusing the firm of misappropriation of trade secrets, racketeering, and tortious interference. Now, an affidavit filed in Ireland’s high court has revealed the confession of Keith O’Brien, the alleged spy involved. O’Brien claims he spied for Deel after its CEO, Alex Bouaziz, offered him roughly €5,000 ($5,500) to obtain information on Ripplings’s “way of doing things” in a meeting where James Bond was mentioned. He accepted and claims he received his first payment before Alex’s father, Deel’s CFO Philippe Bouaziz, told him that “future payments would be made via cryptocurrency, as this method would leave ‘no trace.’” O’Brien says he was paid in Ethereum to his blockchain.com wallet and subsequently converted the funds to ...