U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse denied former OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan release Oct. 19 despite offers to secure bond with his assets and Saudi consular backing in a federal recording device case.
Tse cited flight risk in ordering Alfozan held without bail. The Associated Press reported that Alfozan offered to pledge about $1 million in his own assets. His lawyers’ court filing separately said the Saudi consulate had offered to cover any bond the judge set. Fortune reported that counsel described a $1 million government guarantee at the hearing.
In an Oct. 18 detention filing, prosecutors pointed to a one-way ticket to Riyadh for Oct. 12 and alleged frequent WhatsApp contact between Alfozan and an unnamed Saudi royal. They also said a Saudi military official paid for a flight Alfozan’s wife and child took after his arrest. Prosecutors presented those details as reasons to doubt he would return to court.
Fortune reported that defense counsel identified the official as Alfozan’s brother-in-law and said he bought the tickets with his own money. The defense said the family’s original trip was booked Sept. 13, before the alleged device installation, to accommodate his wife’s immigration deadline and planned paternity leave.
Alfozan’s lawyers pointed to his pursuit of U.S. citizenship and proposed home confinement, GPS monitoring and surrender of his travel documents. The court denied release under those conditions.
The recording device case centers on a device discovered behind a television in an OpenAI executive conference room in San Francisco around Sept. 30. A criminal complaint alleges it was placed there around Sept. 28. The Justice Department said its contents were encrypted.
Alfozan, 35, was arrested Oct. 9 and faces a federal charge alleging he intercepted, or tried to intercept, spoken conversations with a device. A conviction could bring up to five years in prison. Prosecutors’ detention filing raised possible personal or foreign-government motives but did not establish either.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 6.
