Hammad Akbar, who was associated with InvoCode Pvt. Ltd., was indicted in the United States in September 2014 over the marketing and sale of StealthGenie, a mobile app prosecutors said could secretly intercept calls and monitor personal data. Akbar later pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to time served, fined $500,000, and ordered to forfeit the app’s source code; a court permanently barred advertising, marketing, sale, use, and access to StealthGenie.
What happened to the maker of StealthGenie?
On September 29, 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury had indicted Hammad Akbar, a Pakistani national associated with InvoCode Pvt. Ltd. The indictment charged him in connection with an alleged conspiracy to advertise and sell StealthGenie, which DOJ described as a mobile-device spyware app.
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The charges included conspiracy, sale of a surreptitious interception device, advertisement of a known interception device, and advertising a device as a surreptitious interception device. These were allegations at the time of indictment; DOJ noted that Akbar was presumed innocent unless proven guilty. On November 25, 2014, Akbar pleaded guilty to sale and advertisement of an interception device.
What could the StealthGenie app do?
According to DOJ’s account of the indictment, StealthGenie was marketed to monitor a person’s phone without their knowledge. It reportedly supported Apple iPhone, Google Android, and BlackBerry devices, and could:
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- Record incoming and outgoing voice calls and intercept calls while they were in progress.
- Allow a purchaser to call the monitored phone and activate it to listen to conversations within a 15-foot radius.
- Monitor incoming and outgoing email and SMS, voicemail, address-book data, calendar entries, photographs, and videos.
Prosecutors said the app was described as undetectable by most users and advertised as untraceable. These capabilities and marketing claims are allegations reported in the indictment, not a finding that every advertised function worked as claimed.
Why was StealthGenie illegal?
The case tested federal restrictions on devices whose primary purpose is the surreptitious interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications. The alleged ability to secretly intercept calls and capture nearby conversations was central to the government’s theory, alongside the alleged sale and advertising of the app as an interception tool.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said, “Selling spyware is not just reprehensible, it’s a crime.” Her statement reflected the government’s position on selling tools designed for covert surveillance; the case’s specific legal outcome came through Akbar’s guilty plea and the court’s orders.
Was StealthGenie shut down?
Yes. On September 26, 2014, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a temporary restraining order authorizing the FBI to temporarily disable the website hosting StealthGenie. DOJ later announced that the court permanently enjoined advertising, marketing, sale, use, and access to the app.
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What was the penalty for selling StealthGenie?
After Akbar’s guilty plea, the court sentenced him to time served, imposed a $500,000 fine, and ordered forfeiture of StealthGenie’s source code. The product was also subject to the permanent court injunction. These are distinct consequences: the sentence and fine applied to Akbar, while the injunction barred activity involving the app.
Was this the first spyware prosecution?
DOJ characterized the 2014 indictment as the first-ever criminal case concerning the advertisement and sale of a mobile-device spyware app. After Akbar’s plea, DOJ described the conviction as the first-ever criminal conviction concerning such advertising and sale. Those descriptions are specific to mobile-device spyware apps and the conduct at issue; they do not establish that it was the first prosecution of any kind involving spyware or surveillance technology.
The case also became an early U.S. enforcement example in debates about stalking-oriented tracking tools. A later Government Accountability Office report described StealthGenie as secretly tracking location data and intercepting communications, and cited the case when discussing legal and enforcement challenges. Separately, The Washington Post reported that indictment documents estimated 65% of purchasers were likely people who suspected romantic partners of infidelity. That figure was an estimate in indictment documents, as reported by the newspaper—not a DOJ finding about all purchasers.
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