Revolut dragged into Deel-Rippling espionage case over secret $6,000 payment
Whistleblower claims payment from Deel COO’s wife funded corporate spying inside Rippling.
In a dramatic twist to the ongoing corporate espionage case between two of the world’s fastest-growing HR tech companies, U.S.-based Rippling is now pursuing legal action against U.K. fintech powerhouse Revolut, recently valued at $48 billion. The goal: to unmask the identity of a mysterious sender who allegedly funneled secret payments from Deel to a Rippling insider turned whistleblower. TechCrunch first reported the story.
“Our goal is to build a generational company,” says Deel CEO amid espionage case
Court documents reveal that Rippling is demanding full account-opening documentation—including identification and utility bills—for a Revolut user listed as “Alba Basha.” The same name appears on a $6,000 payment receipt sent to Keith O’Brien, a former Rippling payroll manager who claims he was covertly paid by Deel to pass along sensitive company information.
O’Brien has submitted an affidavit in Ireland’s High Court stating that Deel paid him $6,000 a month to spy on his employer, beginning with a payment in November 2024 made to his Revolut account. He alleges that the transaction originated from Alba Basha Westgarth, the wife of Deel’s COO, Dan Westgarth.
Revolut, which has not been accused of any wrongdoing, has retained top legal counsel in Ireland and provided what Rippling’s attorneys called a “helpful but complicated” response to initial inquiries. Due to strict EU privacy laws, the company is unable to disclose personal data without either customer consent or a direct court order—neither of which has yet been issued by the Irish judiciary.
At stake is more than just a name on a transaction. If the court concludes that Alba Basha and Alba Basha Westgarth are the same person—and that the money trail can be definitively traced to Deel’s leadership—it could significantly strengthen Rippling’s explosive claims that its rival orchestrated a sophisticated infiltration of its operations.
The original lawsuit, filed in Ireland earlier this year, accuses Deel of paying O’Brien to act as a mole inside Rippling while instructing him to file falsified law enforcement complaints against his employer. O’Brien has since confessed to destroying his phone with an axe, yet the court refrained from penalizing him due to the threats he has received and his decision to come forward.
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Deel has consistently denied wrongdoing but has not yet filed a formal legal response. The company’s top brass, now seemingly out of reach in Dubai, has further complicated Rippling’s efforts to move the case forward. The company may now seek permission to serve the defendants via email—an option generally reserved for situations where traditional service is unfeasible. CEO Alex Bouaziz, who had previously listed his location as Tel Aviv on LinkedIn, is believed to currently be in Dubai. Adding to the intrigue, Deel’s CFO—Philippe Bouaziz, Alex’s father—currently lists his location as the United Arab Emirates on his X (formerly Twitter) profile. Deel’s general counsel, Asif Malik, was also earlier revealed in court to be based in the UAE, after attempts to serve him in the UK failed.
With Revolut now entangled in the legal fray and international jurisdictions clashing over privacy, disclosure, and extradition, the Deel-Rippling saga continues to evolve into one of the most sensational tech industry courtroom dramas of the decade.
