Mitto tells clients that co-founder departed after allegations of phone spying

A Bloomberg News investigation, carried out in collaboration with the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, reported last week that Gorelik had sold access to Mitto’s networks to secretly locate people via their mobile phones. — Dreamstime/TNS

Representatives of Mitto AG have told clients that co-founder and chief operating officer Ilja Gorelik is no longer involved at the company, following allegations that he operated a secret surveillance service that helped governments track mobile phones, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Mitto, a closely held company with headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, works with telecom operators in more than 100 countries to provide automated text messaging services to some of the world’s largest technology companies, including Google, Twitter and WhatsApp, helping them deliver security codes users need to log in to online accounts.