Categories
Press Release

Security firm falsified records to shirk blame for spying on Julian Assange in Ecuadorian Embassy

David Morales forged emails in attempt to scapegoat former Ecuadorian ambassador

Spanish courts have been ordered to investigate David Morales, head of security company UC Global, for falsifying emails in an effort to deceive the court, EL PAIS reports.  

Morales, released on bail after his arrest in 2019, awaits trial in Spain for secretly spying on political asylee Julian Assange and his guests at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Initially hired to provide security for Ecuador, Morales was converted to surveil Assange on behalf of the CIA by installing tiny microphones and video cameras in his embassy quarters. In an arrangement allegedly brokered by former top Trump donor Sheldon Adelson, Morales himself would transport the illicit audio and video recordings back to his CIA contacts in the United States.

Now investigators have found that Morales forged emails from former Ecuadorian ambassador in London, Carlos Abad, in an attempt to show Abad ordering Morales to secretly surveil Assange. When police reviewed Morales’ inbox to confirm the messages’ veracity, the emails from Abad, who passed away a few weeks before Morales’ initial claim, could not be found. Investigators determined “there are clear signs of manipulation.” 

Morales is also said to have falsified a document from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both evidentiary items have now been expunged from the record in the ongoing investigation into Morales for illegally spying on Assange before the WikiLeaks publisher’s ultimate arrest in April 2019. 

EL PAIS further reports that forging documents is Morales’ M.O.:

In 2018, Abad filed a complaint against the former military officer and his lawyer for falsifying his emails and signature in the context of a labor law trial in Spain against a UC Global S.L. employee. The diplomat reproached Morales for his actions with a message: “I take this opportunity to tell you that in 27 years I had never seen something so poorly done; even amateur hackers are better at phishing [sending emails impersonating someone’s identity]. Once again, Mr. David, I fail to understand what you are trying to achieve with such crude and nefarious falsifications as those you or your employees are carrying out.”

Audiencia Nacional continues to investigate Morales for spying on Assange and his guests — including doctors, journalists, and friends, in violation of their privacy, as well as his lawyers, in violation of attorney-client privilege. 

Meanwhile, four Americans, including two attorneys, have sued the CIA and then-director Mike Pompeo for their role in the spying arrangement, arguing that their Fourth Amendment rights were violated.