A 25-year-old Israeli man allegedly carried out assignments for an Iranian handler and used AI, together with consulting ChatGPT, whereas performing the duties, Haifa District prosecutors stated in an indictment filed on Friday.
Mohammad Khalaf, a resident of Baka al-Gharbiya who works as a safety guard at a youth boarding faculty, was charged with the intense espionage offense of contact with a overseas agent.
By settlement between Haifa District Prosecutor’s Workplace legal professional Amir Eliel and protection legal professional Morsi Abu Mokh, who has represented Khalaf since his arrest and is reviewing the investigation file, Choose Ibrahim Boulos prolonged his detention till additional discover.
Based on the indictment, filed on behalf of the prosecution by legal professional Yossi Gimpel, the case started with a Telegram group supposed for individuals in search of non permanent work. Khalaf seen a proposal for courier work and contacted an individual on Telegram who initially recognized himself as “Thomas” and later as “Martin.”
Khalaf allegedly carried out a collection of duties for the contact and acquired funds via a cryptocurrency pockets. Court docket paperwork point out that he used AI to hold out a number of the assignments and consulted ChatGPT.
Crypto funds and covert assignments
By September 6, round three weeks after his contact with the Iranians started, the Shin Guess (Israel Safety Company) had arrested him. He has remained in custody since then.
Throughout questioning by police and the Shin Guess, Khalaf admitted to the allegations towards him, together with his contact with the handler, the assignments he carried out, and the cash he acquired, in keeping with the indictment.
The investigation, performed collectively by the Shin Guess, the Israel Police Cyber Unit in Lahav 433, and the Asher District Central Unit, discovered that Khalaf had joined a Telegram group for non permanent jobs and, on August 17, contacted “Martin,” who had marketed courier work. He was subsequently moved to a devoted account.
Based on the allegations, the 2 used the OKX software to switch funds in cryptocurrency. The handler bought a Telegram Premium subscription for Khalaf and transferred $50 in Bitcoin to him in an effort to achieve his belief.
In the course of the investigation, cyber investigators discovered the complete correspondence between the 2 on Khalaf’s cellphone, together with images and movies documenting the completion of assignments that had been despatched to the handler. Investigators additionally obtained communications and placement knowledge that matched Khalaf’s account, safety digicam footage, and data displaying funds getting into and being withdrawn from the cryptocurrency pockets.
The indictment states that in his contact with the Iranian handler, Khalaf traveled on his directions to an space close to a instrument retailer in Kiryat Haim, the place he situated a Samsung Galaxy cellphone that had been hid beneath branches and leaves close to a tree. He photographed and filmed the placement in accordance with the handler’s directions.
He allegedly acquired NIS 1,050 for the project.
Three days later, in keeping with the indictment, Khalaf withdrew cash from his cryptocurrency pockets at a foreign money change in Pardes Hanna, positioned NIS 300 in an envelope, and hid it inside a light-weight fixture in a restroom at a Dor Alon fuel station close to the Sha’ar Menashe psychiatric hospital.
On the identical day, he allegedly documented further potential hiding locations, together with beneath a sink in a disabled restroom at a fuel station close to Metzer and above ceiling tiles in a restroom at a restaurant in Baka al-Gharbiya.
Safety particulars and deliberate assembly overseas
Prosecutors additional alleged that Khalaf returned to the fuel station the next day to retrieve the envelope. He later printed an English-language letter at a print store in Baka al-Gharbiya that presupposed to be an invite to a secret assembly in Paris.
Based on the indictment, he hid the letter in an envelope beneath a rock close to a jujube tree marked with a numbered yellow tag in a grove close to Kibbutz Lahavot Haviva, then despatched the handler documentation of the placement along with its exact coordinates.
He later took the cellphone he had retrieved in Kiryat Haim for restore after being instructed to take action.
The indictment additionally alleges that Khalaf offered the handler with particulars about his work as a safety guard employed by G1 on the boarding faculty, together with safety procedures, night time shifts, and the positioning of safety cameras. He additionally allegedly promised to {photograph} the positioning.
A number of days earlier than his arrest, in keeping with the indictment, Khalaf agreed to a request to resume his passport forward of a deliberate assembly with the handler overseas.
Alongside the indictment, prosecutors filed a request to maintain Khalaf in custody till the top of authorized proceedings.
Within the detention request, the state argued that Khalaf admitted he had continued finishing up the assignments even after creating a considerable suspicion that the handler was engaged on behalf of entities hostile to Israel and that the duties he was performing may hurt state safety.
Based on the allegations, Khalaf and the handler additionally agreed on a concealment mechanism. They’d focus on assignments on one account, whereas on Khalaf’s private account they might change texts for translation in a approach designed to painting the funds as compensation for enhancing and translation work.
The prosecution argued that the allegations describe an ongoing and systematic collection of actions demonstrating a excessive stage of hazard to state safety and the general public, which couldn’t be adequately addressed via a substitute for detention.
Choose Dr. Zaid Falach was assigned to listen to the prosecution’s detention request.
