The disclosures come ahead of an Oct. 19 detention hearing, where Alfozan's attorneys are seeking his release pending trial under stringent conditions with the backing of Saudi Arabia's consulate. Prosecutors had earlier cited one way flights to Saudi Arabia via Istanbul booked for Oct. 12 for Alfozan, his wife and another relative as evidence of flight risk, while defense lawyers argued in a Friday filing that he bought the tickets on Sept. 13 to match the expiration of his wife's US work authorization.
Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national who also serves as a venture partner at Saudi firm RAED Ventures alongside Prince Khalid bin Bader Al Saud, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on a federal wiretapping charge. Prosecutors allege he plugged an encrypted $14 Seeed Xiao ESP32-S3 Sense recording device wrapped in toilet paper into a television USB port around Sept. 28 after using an internal AI tool to research executive meeting rooms and a ChatGPT account tied to his wife to help build the device.