Posted on 06/29/2010 7:14:04 AM PDT by traumer
Straight out of B-movie, alleged spies used invisible ink, coded talk, feds say
Behind the scenes, they were known as "illegals" — short for illegal Russian agents — and were believed to have fake back stories known as "legends."
U.S. authorities say they sometimes worked in pairs and pretended to be married so they could blend into American society as the couple next door. Aside from fake identities, authorities say, they used Cold War spycraft — invisible ink, coded radio transmissions, encrypted data — to avoid detection. (See pictures of president Obama traveling to Russia.)
On Monday in federal court in Manhattan, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Farbiarz called the allegations "the tip of the iceberg" of a conspiracy of Russia's intelligence service, the SVR, to collect inside U.S. information.
Each of the 10 was charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction. Two criminal complaints outlining the charges were filed in U.S. District Court for the southern district of New York. (Read the five pillars of Obama's foreign policy.)
According to Reuters, an 11th suspect was arrested today in Cyprus.
Nine of the defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum 20 years in prison upon conviction.
The FBI said it intercepted a message from SVR's headquarters, Moscow Center, to two of the 10 defendants describing their main mission as "to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US." Intercepted messages showed they were asked to learn about a wide range of topics, including nuclear weapons, U.S. arms control positions, Iran, White House rumors, CIA leadership turnover, the last presidential election, Congress and the political parties, prosecutors said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnewyork.com ...
I wonder if they used the trick from “The Day of Jackal” and “The Fourth Protocol” to give them their legends.
“... were asked to learn about a wide range of topics,... White House rumors,... the last presidential election, Congress and the political parties”
U R joking right ?
Sounds like a huge waste of money to me. A lot more economical to find a traitor who is already in a position of power and pay him off. What are the odds that some suburban couple is going to get any real influence?
anyone want to bet this has been going on continually since WWII and that nothing will really change in the future when it comes to Russia spying on us and others?
70's Show ref.
So you don’t think the CIA is doing the exact same thing in Russia?
“Nice photo of 3 Russian leaders and one Russian black Marxist radical spy.”
Good one! Who else do we know using a SSAN from a dead person, and who has created a “legend” about his past?
Way earlier than that. I read Witness a couple of years ago and I'm working on Blacklisted by History now (I have to stop when my head starts spinning around) and it's been going on basically since the Russian Revolution.
You think he’s competent enough to be a spy? Especially for the Russians? I don’t.
Ummm no... there isn’t massive immigration to Russia from countries all over the world — much less from the U.S. — a U.S. couple couldn’t blend in as the couple next door in a suburb of Moscow.
Witness should be required reading in school.
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