The woman who accused the court administrator of sexual abuse was targeted by private intelligence as part of an operation that allegedly took place in Qatar.
The Guardian may reveal details of the intrusive operation, which obtained sensitive information about the woman, who works for the ICC, and her family members.
According to leaked files seen by the Guardian and people familiar with the operation, one of the companies sought her passport details and other sensitive information, including about her son.
An important objective of the intelligence firms is to find evidence that can be used to undermine his credibility and the claim of abuse that he made against the ICC Adjegory, Karim Khan.
Khan, a prominent British lawyer, has denied the abuse allegations and people close to him have suggested the claims are part of an Israel-backed smear campaign in response to his decision in 2024 to obtain an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The private intelligence operation was led by Highgate, a vigilante company based in the Mayfair district of London. It describes itself as a “strategic advisory firm” that advises chief executives and political leaders on handling “high-stakes issues”.
Working as at least one company, Highgate seeks to establish connections between women and Israel. However, documents seen by the Guardian suggest no such evidence has been found.
People familiar with the activities of private intelligence companies said that its operation was ordered by a high-level diplomatic unit within the Qatari State.
Victim Khan told the Guardian she was nervous about the “disturbing” operation. “The idea that private intelligence firms have been instructed to target me is as incomprehensible as it is saddening.”
In a statement to the Guardian, Highgate confirmed it was working on an ICC-related operation but said it was not “conducted against any individual”. It denied the project was paid for or commissioned by the “Government of Qatar”.
Details about the apparent participation of the Qatari unit in the espionage operation – which also appeared to target other ICC officials – are the latest twist of the Court’s prosecutor who has not done the Crisis.
Khan’s decision to seek warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoab for alleged crimes in Gaza made him and the court a target for the US and Israel.
Allegations of abuse further complicated his tenure as a prosecutor. He stopped pending a UN inquiry into his conduct.
The Guardian saw no evidence that Khan had any personal involvement in the operation. However, people familiar with the operation said Highgate met with Khan’s representatives, questioning the purpose of the meeting.
Year of Turmoil
Khan’s term as ICC prosecutor was upended later that year when abuse allegations made by court staff became public. The woman, a lawyer in her 30s, worked directly for him.
His claims include allegations of coercive sexual behavior and abuse of authority. The alleged sexual misconduct allegedly took place in hotel rooms on business trips, at Khan’s office at the ICC, and at his home.
A UN Watchdog is investigating his claims. In August, the Guardian reported that a second woman was awaiting questioning over allegations that Khan assaulted her while working for him as an unpaid intern in the past.
Khan’s lawyers have always said he is “rejected” from harming anyone and claim the prosecution “is the subject of an orchestrated campaign” to frustrate him.
While the Guardian understood there were attempts by PRO-Israeli actors to leak information about the ICC staff complaint, it has no evidence to suggest the allegations of a plan against the prosecutor.
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The private intelligence operation targeting the woman at the center of the UN inquiry is said to have started earlier this year, when Highergate was commissioned by the Qataris.
A small group of senior Highgate employees knew that the real client for the project was the Qatari unit, according to evidence reviewed by the Guardian. The fund is considered very sensitive. The executives involved in the project will be careful to refer to its client as the “client country” or “Q ISSUED”.
A document seen by the Guardian suggests that at one stage during the operation Highgate sought information linking the alleged victims to his family or intelligence agencies.
Highgate has engaged a specialist company, Elecious Intelligence, to help it gather information about the woman, the child, her husband and her parents and her husband. Highgate also asked the company to investigate other ICC officials involved in the court’s response to the allegations.
The documents suggest that Elicius produced several reports for Highgate that included “sensitive” information about their private lives, previous relationships, and financial circumstances. At one point, according to the files, Highergate requested the child’s birth certificate be obtained.
Highgate also obtained the Woman’s Passport details and sought detailed information about the trips she had taken in recent years. The reports contain passwords used by the woman for online accounts, including a private email address, which appear to be from hacked data available on dark data.
In its statement, Highgate said the claim that information was sought about the woman’s child was “inaccurate” and suggested descriptions of other types of information obtained by private companies were incorrect.
“Highgate is leading an independent investigation into potential covert or improper activities that may have sought to undermine the credibility, independence, or integrity of the ICC,” it said. “The review has taken into account multiple incidents involving multiple individuals over a long period of time.”
Highgate did not deny the meeting with Khan’s representatives, describing such information as “private, commercially sensitive and confidential”.
In a statement to the Guardian, Khan’s lawyers did not dispute that such a meeting took place.
However, they said that his representatives were not “aware of, let alone participating in, the alleged activities” of private intelligence companies. Khan’s lawyers added that he was not given any “information” about its activities.
Elicius intelligence declined to comment. The Qatari government did not respond to a request for comment.
Khan said the victim, who waited almost a year for the UN inquiry to reach its conclusions, and found himself at the center of an ICC case, expressed anger at the situation.
“Where will it end and what will it allow? If this is what international justice looks like, it’s not the system I’ve dedicated my life to serving.” He added: “I always do my work quietly and under the radar. I come to serve, to be invisible.”