Old habits die hard -- Large Russian spy network caught in US

[HPLovecraft]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/...ex.html?hpt=T1

Less than a week after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the United States, the Justice Department announced Monday that 10 people were arrested on charges of being Russian agents involved in a long-term mission in the country. Another suspect was still being sought.

Five of the arrested suspects appeared in a New York courtroom Monday. Four of the five, including a longtime U.S.-based columnist for the Spanish-language "El Diario" newspaper, were advised of their rights and ordered held due to flight risk, with their next hearing scheduled for July 1.

[ . . .]

The suspects were "trained Russian intelligence operatives," a Justice Department spokesman said, and information from court documents alleged they were part of a mission to plant "deep-cover" agents in the United States.

The Justice Department said the 10 people arrested and another person not yet in custody were supposed to recruit intelligence agents, but were not directly involved in obtaining U.S. secrets themselves. All were charged with acting as agents of a foreign government, and nine also were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

[ . . . ]

A decrypted message from Moscow to two of the suspects said they were sent to the United States for "long-term service," one of the documents said.

"Your education, bank accounts, car, house, etc. -- all these serve one goal: fulfill your main mission, i.e., to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in U.S. and send intels (intelligence reports)," the document said.

[Hemi-Cuda]

i bet the US has more than double that amount of agents currently working in Russia

[MrMastodonFarm]

Sneak f'n Russians....

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

i bet the US has more than double that amount of agents currently working in Russia

And the British have atleast one...

Even if it's Lazenby, who gets a bad rap.

[HPLovecraft]

I wonder if Vlad is a Russian KHL spy planted here to keep an eye on the NHL . . .

[gargamel]

[mykalberta]

Is anyone really surprised? The company is full of corrupt ex kgb politicians and CEO's. The only thing that keeps them from being on the same level as greece is natural resources.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Is anyone really surprised? The company is full of corrupt ex kgb politicians and CEO's. The only thing that keeps them from being on the same level as greece is natural resources.

I don't think Russia is alone in this one. All the big players have spies everyone, including in their own allies' countries.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

I wonder if Vlad is a Russian KHL spy planted here to keep an eye on the NHL . . .

A 30-year sleeper no less...

[troutman]

[Cowperson]

I like how the headlines are all starting to devolve into the obvious "Sex Sells" element . . . . . like CNN with "Striking Redhead Linked To Spy Ring."

As soon as her pictures started to come up we all knew where it was going to go. And we all want it to go there too.

Cowperson

[amorak]

No mention in here that most of them posed as Canadian citizens... WTF why does everyone drag our passport through the mud?!

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by amorak

No mention in here that most of them posed as Canadian citizens... WTF why does everyone drag our passport through the mud?!

I was laughing at this description in the New York Post this morning . . . .

The "secret agents" the Russians sent to America over the last 10 years came off as a crew of rank amateurs who made so many blunders, they came close to blowing their cover, their neighbors told The Post.

In Cambridge, Mass., accused spy Tracey Lee Ann Foley warmly approached a neighbor and introduced herself after buying a condo with her husband, alleged agent Donald Howard Heathfield.

"We started talking in English, and she was telling me she was from Montreal, so we started speaking in French," said the neighbor, Doris Stanley, who studied French, Russian and Italian at Yale.

"Then suddenly she switched to English and I said, 'Oh, this is odd, I've never understood anyone from Montreal because they use a different grammar and there's a different accent than natives of France,' " Stanley said.

"I said, 'Pardon me, this is a little rude, but where did you say you're from in Montreal?' "

Foley replied, "The reason you . . . understand me is because I went to school in Switzerland," Stanley recalled.

"She started explaining more about her accent, and she appeared a little nervous-like, and she said, 'Oh, you know everyone in this country comes from somewhere else, or has relatives from somewhere else,' " Stanley said.

"It was at that point at which I said, 'Oh yeah, my father came from Odessa' " -- a city in the former USSR -- and "I saw her eyes widen, I swear, I saw a definite emotional reaction," Stanley said.

In Montclair, NJ, alleged spies Richard and Cynthia Murphy told neighbors they were from Toronto. "But when this one woman mentioned a particular [Toronto] neighborhood to them, they didn't know what she was talking about," said local resident Chris Manthy.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/nationa...#ixzz0sMIYTB30

Cowperson

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

I was laughing at this description in the New York Post this morning . . . .

The "secret agents" the Russians sent to America over the last 10 years came off as a crew of rank amateurs who made so many blunders, they came close to blowing their cover, their neighbors told The Post.

In Cambridge, Mass., accused spy Tracey Lee Ann Foley warmly approached a neighbor and introduced herself after buying a condo with her husband, alleged agent Donald Howard Heathfield.

"We started talking in English, and she was telling me she was from Montreal, so we started speaking in French," said the neighbor, Doris Stanley, who studied French, Russian and Italian at Yale.

"Then suddenly she switched to English and I said, 'Oh, this is odd, I've never understood anyone from Montreal because they use a different grammar and there's a different accent than natives of France,' " Stanley said.

"I said, 'Pardon me, this is a little rude, but where did you say you're from in Montreal?' "

Foley replied, "The reason you . . . understand me is because I went to school in Switzerland," Stanley recalled.

"She started explaining more about her accent, and she appeared a little nervous-like, and she said, 'Oh, you know everyone in this country comes from somewhere else, or has relatives from somewhere else,' " Stanley said.

"It was at that point at which I said, 'Oh yeah, my father came from Odessa' " -- a city in the former USSR -- and "I saw her eyes widen, I swear, I saw a definite emotional reaction," Stanley said.

In Montclair, NJ, alleged spies Richard and Cynthia Murphy told neighbors they were from Toronto. "But when this one woman mentioned a particular [Toronto] neighborhood to them, they didn't know what she was talking about," said local resident Chris Manthy.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/nationa...#ixzz0sMIYTB30

Cowperson

Looks like all the money used for training these spies went to the KHL to sign NHL players. Taking over the world indeed!

[LChoy]

If these stories are true, than the Russian training has really gone downhill
Russia were once pros in espionage even creating little "American Suburbs" for their deep cover agents to practice and immersion into American culture (the CIA had similar facilities)

[Huntingwhale]