WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (GeokHub) — The Trump administration has removed three executives linked to the spyware consortium Intellexa from the U.S. sanctions list, according to a notice published on the Treasury Department’s website.
The move partially rolls back sanctions imposed last year under former President Joe Biden, which targeted seven individuals connected to Intellexa, a group the U.S. government has described as a sprawling network of companies that developed and sold highly intrusive surveillance software.
In an email, the Treasury Department said the delisting was carried out as part of a standard administrative review following petitions for reconsideration. It said each of the individuals had demonstrated steps to distance themselves from the Intellexa consortium.
Intellexa representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the Treasury notice, sanctions were lifted on Sara Hamou, whom U.S. officials had accused of providing managerial services to Intellexa; Andrea Gambazzi, whose company was alleged to have held distribution rights for Intellexa’s Predator spyware; and Merom Harpaz, described by U.S. authorities as a senior executive within the consortium.
Hamou, Gambazzi and Harpaz did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Tal Dilian, a former Israeli intelligence official who founded Intellexa and remains under U.S. sanctions, also did not respond to requests for comment.
Intellexa’s Predator spyware has been at the center of multiple international controversies. In Greece, the software was allegedly used to surveil a journalist, a leading opposition figure and other individuals. In 2023, a consortium of investigative news organizations reported that Vietnam’s government had attempted to hack members of the U.S. Congress using Intellexa-linked tools.
Dilian has previously denied wrongdoing in the Greek surveillance case and has not publicly commented on reports related to attempted hacking of U.S. lawmakers.
When the sanctions were first imposed in March last year, the Treasury Department accused Intellexa of facilitating the spread of commercial spyware to authoritarian governments and alleged that its products had been used to covertly monitor U.S. officials, journalists and policy experts.
