Current Espionage News

May 2008

Chinese hit with cyberspying allegations

…Suspicions have been cast on Chinese officials who some believe secretly copied data from Secretary Carlos Gutierrez's computer while he was on a visit to Beijing in December, and further that they then tried to use the stolen data to hack into other U.S. government computers, The Daily Telegraph said in a report. Gutierrez refused to discuss the cyberspying incident with The Telegraph, saying only, "To the extent that there is an investigation going on, those are the things being looked at, those are the questions being asked. I don't think I should provide any speculative answers."…..(UPI, 31 May 08)

Venezuela Arrests Suspected US Spy

Venezuela says it has nabbed a US national espionage suspect, who identified himself as an anti-drugs agent, which if confirmed could fuel tensions between the two countries…Gen. Gabriel Oviedo said the man was acting suspicious when he was detained close to the border with Colombia while bearing Canadian and French passports and a Venezuelan identity card. Oviedo told state television: "The official at the scene proceeded to interrogate him and he said he was a DEA agent." The US Embassy in Caracas said it had no knowledge of the arrest….(Al Alam, 30 May 08)

U.S. Investigates Laptop Spying Suspicions

In March the U.S. State Department stirred some concern when it issued a fact sheet for Olympics visitors to China, warning them of potential intrusions on their privacy. “All hotel rooms and offices are considered to be subject to on-site or remote technical monitoring at all times. Hotel rooms, residences and offices may be accessed at any time without the occupant’s consent or knowledge,” it said. Now, the AP reports that American authorities are investigating whether Chinese government officials secretly copied a U.S. government laptop during Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez’s visit to Beijing last December. A computer hard drive can be copied in minutes using sophisticated equipment that can steal data remotely. It wasn’t clear what information was on the computer or how it might have been used…The report also highlighted an incident of attempted hacking of a foreign businessman’s PDA in China and provided some hints on how to avoid being hacked:

Buy “throwaway” phones for use in China, recommends Joel Brenner, chief of the office of the National Counterintelligence Executive under the CIA. Leave your everyday laptop at home and carry a “sanitized” laptop for overseas trips (this is what the Department of Homeland Security does). Conduct sensitive business on a computer that is disconnected from the office’s internal network. After serious computer attacks, the commerce department told employees in its security industry bureau to use laptops isolated from the department’s network, even for simple Web searches for public information…..(Wall Street Journal, 30 May 08)

Video:  US Investigates Alleged Chinese Laptop Hacking

Chinese national pleads guilty to abetting espionage in DOD secrets case

A Chinese woman who is a permanent resident of New Orleans pleaded guilty Wednesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana [official website] to charges of aiding and abetting espionage by passing national defense information to Chinese agents. Yu Xin Kang [CICentre materials] could face 10 years in prison for acting as an intermediary between Louisiana businessman Tai Kuo and Defense Security Cooperation Agency [official website] analyst Gregg William Bergersen. Kang allegedly passed classified military information to Chinese foreign officials…..(Jurist, 29 May 08)

Israel set to deport Lebanese jailed as Hizbullah spy

Israel is to release and deport on Sunday a Lebanese-born man jailed more than six years ago on charges of spying for Hizbullah, senior security sources said on Wednesday. Nessim Nisr, born to an Israeli Jewish mother and a Lebanese Muslim father, held Israeli citizenship at the time of his arrest in 2002. He was sentenced to six years in prison for working with Hizbullah. He is to be transferred to Lebanon at 11 a.m. on Sunday….(Daily Star, 29 May 08)

Life term for Pakistani spy

A Madhya Pradesh court Wednesday awarded life term to a Pakistani citizen for spying in a military area and two years in jail to two others for helping him. Additional District and Sessions Judge (Gwalior district) Meena Singh awarded life imprisonment to Abbas Ali for spying at Gwalior’s air force station and other defence areas, public prosecutor Kamal Jain told IANS. The court also sentenced two local residents, Amin Khan and Mohammad Shahid, for helping Ali…..(Taindian, 29 May 08)

Woman pleads guilty in spy case

…Asked by District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema why she had taken part, Yu Xin Kang, 33, responded that she had a "personal relationship" with one of the two lead players in the spy operation, New Orleans businessman Tai Shen Kuo, 58. It began, she said, when she met him in Beijing at age 19. Kang's attorney, Michael Nachmanoff, later said the relationship was romantic, and that his client had become dependent on Kuo…Kang pleaded guilty to a single count of aiding and abetting an unregistered agent of a foreign government. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years, although Brinkema is expected to give her significantly less jail time at a sentencing hearing Aug. 1. Guidelines call for between three and four years in prison. Kang's plea brings to a close a case that prosecutors described as a conspiracy to pass confidential information to a Chinese government, part of what they say is an expanded espionage effort by the country's communist-led government….(Nola, 29 May 08)

Chinese Woman Found Guilty in U.S. Spy Case

Yu Xin Kang, a Chinese woman and an alien resident living in New Orleans in the United States was convicted on Wednesday with providing top-secret U.S. military secrets to the Communist regime in China. The classified information, about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, was obtained from a Defense Department weapons analyst and passed on to a Chinese agent.  Kang, who pleaded guilty, faces up to 10 years in prison…Bergersen is supposed to have sold military information about the Taiwan arms shipments, classified as "top secret", to Tai Shen Kuo, 58, a naturalized citizen also from New Orleans. Kuo is believed to have passed on the information to Kang, who passed it on the Communist regime in China. Bergersen admitted during his plea that he had provided the information to Kuo, but had been duped into believing that Kuo was working for a Taiwanese business. He also declared that he had made it clear to Kuo that the information was classified and not to be released. Kuo is believed to have treated Bergersen to lavish gifts, dinners and money for gambling at Las Vegas. The Chinese Communist regime's Foreign Ministry spokesperson had dismissed U.S. allegations of spying in early February, right after the federal case was first announced and a Boeing employee of Chinese origin, Dongfan "Greg" Chung, went on trial for providing military information from Rockwell and Boeing to the Chinese regime…..(Epoch Times, 28 May 08)

Chinese woman admits to helping Pentagon-linked spying

A Chinese woman pleaded guilty in a US court Wednesday to helping to spy for Beijing in a Pentagon-linked espionage case, the Justice Department said. Yu Xin Kang, 33, admitted to "aiding and abetting" a Taiwanese-American, Tai Shen Kuo, who had earlier pleaded guilty to spying for China involving sensitive military secrets……(AFP, 28 May 08)

New Orleans Woman Pleads Guilty to Aiding and Abetting Unregistered Agent of China

Yu Xin Kang, age 33, of New Orleans, La., pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of Virginia to a one-count criminal information charging her with aiding and abetting an unregistered agent of a foreign government, namely the People's Republic of China (PRC), in violation of 18 U.S.C., Sections 2 and 951. Kang was arrested on Feb. 11, 2008 on a criminal complaint…According to a Statement of Facts filed in Court with Kang's Plea Agreement, the criminal conduct spanned the time period of March 2007 to Feb. 11, 2008. During this period, Kang, a citizen of the PRC and a lawful permanent resident alien of the United States, aided and abetted Tai Shen Kuo in acting in the United States as an agent of the government of the PRC without prior notification to the Attorney General. Kuo, a naturalized U.S. citizen and New Orleans businessman, maintained a close relationship with an official of the government of the PRC and provided him with sensitive U.S. government information, including national defense information. The PRC official directed Kuo in this effort, giving him instructions on information and documents to collect and paying him approximately $50,000.00 for completing those tasks. Kuo, as an unregistered agent of the PRC, operated within the United States under the PRC official's direction, committing numerous acts of espionage during the time period of the conspiracy…Kuo obtained national defense information from Gregg W. Bergersen - a Weapons Systems Policy Analyst at the Arlington, Va.-based Defense Security Cooperation Agency, an agency within the Department of Defense - on several occasions. The information pertained primarily to U.S. military sales to Taiwan and U.S. military communications security and was classified at the Secret level…..(Sun Herald, 28 May 08)

Bizarre Turn Seen in Case of Korea Spy

In a bizarre turn in a spy case involving Korea, a convicted felon is being dispatched with America's blessing to North Korea to facilitate the export of a specialty liquor to New York from Pyongyang. The case, which is unfolding in federal court in New York, involves a Manhattan man, Park Il Woo, who was arrested as part of a long-running federal investigation into South Korean spies in New York. Park has since pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about the extent of his contact with South Korean officials…Court documents don't mention the nature of the business that Park intends to conduct while in North Korea. But it is likely connected to Park's long-standing efforts to import North Korean soju, a liquor made from corn and rice, into America. The plan appears to have received official approval from the North Korean government……(New York Sun, 28 May 08)

Hezbollah spy to be released next week

Israel will release convicted Hezbollah spy Nassim Nasser from administrative detention and return him to Lebanon on Sunday, as an unofficial first step in a prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel has not formally said that Nasser's release is part of the deal, in which Hezbollah is expected to free Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, the two Israeli reservists whose July 2006 abduction sparked the Second Lebanon War. In exchange for the two reservists, Israel will release six Lebanese prisoners and return the bodies of 10 Hezbollah militants. Israeli officials think the relatively low price Israel is expected to pay for Regev and Goldwasser appears to indicate that they are no longer alive….(Haaretz, 28 May 08)

The secret's out: our bumbling spy service comes in from the cold

…After 30 years, the veil has been lifted on a damning secret report into ASIO, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization. The 1970s royal commission by Justice Robert Hope found that poor morale, ineffective leadership and inadequate resources led him to fear ASIO may have been infiltrated by Cold War adversaries… Much intelligence was ignored, the security assessment of job applicants was "somewhat haphazard", and files so disordered that the truth of particulars alleged against individuals could not be proved. The Hope findings had been kept secret, at the late judge's urging, since 1978…..(Sydney Morning Herald, 28 May 08)

ASIS spies 'illegal but needed'

Australian governments would have to embrace "illegal", "deceptive" and "underhanded" espionage overseas in order to protect the national interest, according to the top-secret reports of the Hope Royal Commission. The reports, released in full yesterday under the 30-year rule, contained blunt calls for more aggressive espionage overseas, warning that failure to do so could compromise vital Australian political, military and economic interests in the region…"Any state which fails to exploit clandestine human resources, as well as other methods of intelligence collection, may deny its government access to the motives, plans and designs of other powers," the report said. "Without clandestine intelligence, we may lack the best basis upon which to negotiate successfully on political or economic matters or perhaps to prepare military plans of our own." But it warned that Australian governments would have to accept they were breaking the law to obtain this intelligence…..(Australian, 28 May 08)

It's tough leading two lives, agents say

…"ASIS members must lead a double life," the agents said, using dull cover stories to avoid raising suspicion about their true role. "ASIS members must often present to the world a drab uninteresting figure even to the extent of denegrating (sic) themselves as somewhat of a failure if necessary." This means ASIS agents are "denied the normal satisfaction one derives from a successful career"…"Members of ASIS cannot discuss their work experience as members of ASIS and are extremely restricted in their use of ASIS referees," they said. Prospective employers often interpreted this secrecy about past experience "as being an attempt to hide some disreputable fact in the member's past"….(Australian, 28 May 08)

The affairs of state TheStar.com - Canada - The affairs of state

…Wiseman says Bernier's relationship with Couillard should not be viewed in the same light as other men's historic affairs with femme fatales. The case here is that Bernier's indiscretions may have caused a security breach, he says. Bernier isn't the first Canadian politician whose romantic liaisons have posed a risk to national security…..(Star, 28 May 08)

Third defendant in Chinese spy case expected to plead guilty today

Yu Xin Kang, 33, a Chinese national who federal authorities say was part of an espionage operation in New Orleans, is scheduled to plead guilty today to a charge of aiding and abetting an unregistered agent of a foreign government, according to court documents. The guilty plea would bring to a close a case the Justice Department described as a conspiracy to provide information about U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan to the government of the Peoples Republic of China . It has already resulted in guilty pleas for two others. New Orleans businessman Tai Shen Kuo, 58, pleaded guilty on May 13 to a single count of conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a foreign government. Earlier, Gregg William Bergersen, a former Defense Department official, pleaded guilty to providing information about the weapons' sales to Kuo. While Kuo and Bergersen pled guilty to single counts of espionage, Kang is expected to plead guilty to a significantly reduced charge with a maximum sentence of 10 years. With sentencing guidelines, she could go to prison for just three to four years. The two other participants in the Chinese spy case face sentences of up to life in prison, although their attorneys are hoping for sentences of about 10 years……(Times-Picayune, 28 May 08)

Weak ASIO was prey for Soviets in the 1970s

The release of the top-secret Hope royal commission reports by the National Archives yesterday reveals judge Robert Hope painted a devastating picture of an under funded organization riven by "cliques and nepotism".  In his December 1976 report, Hope warned that ASIO was suffering poor morale and showed an unwillingness to undertake vital counter-intelligence and counter-espionage tasks, with the body more interested in rooting out suspected communist subversion of political and social organizations. He told the Fraser government that the possibility had to be faced "that ASIO may have been penetrated by a hostile intelligence service"……(Australian, 28 May 08)

Spy reports released 30 years on

Previously secret reports into Australia's spy services will be among thousands of documents released today under the National Archives of Australia's 30-year rule.The documents hark back to the findings of the Hope Royal Commission, although what will finally be made public, and what will remain secret, remains to be seen. In 1974 Justice Robert Marsden Hope was appointed by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam to look into the "intelligence community" - the government espionage and intelligence agencies…..(Australian, 27 May 08)

Lebanese spy to be released on Sunday

Jailed in 2002 for six-year prison term, Muslim convert Nasim Nasr has already completed his sentence but is still being held in administrative detention. His attorney insists timing of Nasr's deportation to Lebanon 'not by chance'.  While Israel has yet to confirm Lebanese reports of developments on the prisoner-exchange front, all signs seem to be pointing to a significant breakthrough. Sunday will see the release of convicted spy Nasim Nasr, a Jewish man who converted to Islam and immigrated to Israel from Lebanon. In 2002 Nasr was sentenced to a six-year prison term after being tried for espionage……(YNet, 27 May 08)

Israel holds Iranian immigrant as spy

Israel is holding an Iranian Jew on espionage charges. The unnamed suspect, who immigrated to Israel from Iran but later moved abroad, was charged in Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday with conducting illicit contacts with enemy agents.  He was detained on May 8 after visiting Israel and, according to the Shin Bet, confessed while in custody to spying for Iran.  According to a statement put out by the Israeli security service, during 2006 the suspect visited the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul on several occasions and was recruited by Iranian intelligence. He gave them the names of several Israelis whom he believes work for the security service, according to the Shin Bet….(JTA, 27 May 08)

Israeli suspected of espionage links with Iran

An Iranian-born Israeli was charged in Israel on Sunday with passing sensitive information to Iran, Israel's Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said. The man was detained on May 8 and told investigators he visited the Iranian consulate in Istanbul in 2006 and disclosed the names "of people he knew, whom he said were serving in Israel's defense establishment," a Shin Bet statement said… A Shin Bet official said last year that many of the emigres first stop in Istanbul to receive permits from the Iranian consulate and come under pressure to spy against Israel…..(Reuters, 25 May 08)

Iranian immigrants warned not to visit homeland

Following alleged espionage by Iranian-born Israeli, Central Organization of Iranian Immigrants in Israel urges community not to visit Islamic republic despite relatives left behind. Spokesman protests against social stigma surrounding Iranian-born community…Mutai believes that Iranian-born Israelis visiting their homeland may create complications for them and for the country as he urges them to stop. At the same time, Mutai protests against the tarnishing of Iranian immigrants to Israel. The news of a 55-year-old Iranian-born Israeli citizen being arrested by Israeli authorities on suspicion of spying for Iran was cleared for publication Sunday. The indictment includes counts of contacting a foreign agent, relaying information to an enemy state, theft and fraudulently obtaining goods……(YNet, 26 May 08)

The Enemy Within

Israel recently revealed that it had arrested and indicted an Israeli who had been born in Iran. The suspect had gone to the Iranian embassy in Turkey, to obtain a visa to travel to Iran (where many Israelis from Iran still have kin). But while he was there, he had passed information to Iranian intelligence officials. Israeli officials would not reveal any more, but it is known that Iranian intelligence regularly tries to get Israelis, with family in Iran, to do intelligence work. The Iranians can threaten to harm family members in Iran (where Jews have lived for over two thousand years), if intelligence information is not provided. It's believed that some past cases of persecution of Jews in Iran (including imprisonment and execution) were related to these intelligence gathering activities. Israel does not have any restrictions on its citizens visiting Iran, but it does warn those with kin in Iran, that they may be subject to pressure by Iranian intel operatives, and all such contacts must be reported to the Israeli government……(Strategy Page, 27 May 08)

Russia's FSB accuses official with revealing state secrets

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has launched a criminal case against a deputy interior minister in Russia's northwest Komi Republic accused with divulging state secrets. "We are investigating a case which involves officials from the Interior Ministry in Komi, including Vasily Lytoyev," the head of the local investigative department, Nikolai Basmanov said. According to the popular business daily Kommersant, Lytoyev is accused of revealing secret information to media sources into an investigation against Syktyvkar mayor Roman Zenishev.

In an interview with the daily, Lytoyev said, however, his arrest was linked with his professional activities……(RIA Novosti, 26 May 08)

Cold War Kiwi spy scandal revealed

A senior New Zealand trade official caught in a KGB black-market sting was allowed to continue working despite high-level warnings that he could be a security risk. Papers obtained by The Dominion Post reveal former trade commissioner Ian Noel Clark was secretly whisked out of the Soviet Union after the KGB threatened to publish damaging photos and details of him dealing in Moscow's currency black market in 1978. The spy service threatened to reveal his $50,000 dealings in the Communist Party paper Pravda. New Zealand officials believe the KGB targeted Mr Clark with the intention of turning him into a Soviet spy and obtaining secret codes and cipher equipment used by our embassy to communicate with close allies in the Cold War, including the United States…"It was disconcerting the KGB almost certainly knew more of Clark's operations in Moscow than we did," one document says. "They could again come back to him and again attempt to suborn him, even many years later. "We had to ask ourselves: Do we have an exposed flank? And Ian Clark could be it. He remained vulnerable to KGB pressure. "He made something of the order of NZ$50,000 on the black market in 20 months," a document says. "That was scarcely peanuts. The KGB would not think so either, in my view. It had to be assumed that they would be disinclined to let their `investment' in him go."…..(Dominion Post, 24 May 08)

U.S. Cancels Visas of RP Officials in Espionage Case

…quoting a close Estrada associate whose visa was canceled, said from 15 to 20 opposition figures implicated in the espionage case have suffered the cancellation of their visas. The opposition figures were believed to have received information stolen by Filipino-American intelligence analyst Leandro Aragoncillo from files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Aragoncillo, who worked in the office of US Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage by a federal court in New Jersey in July last year. Former Philippine police officer Michael Ray Aquino was also arrested and sentenced in connection with the case. Aquino was detailed with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force during the Estrada administration, working under Panfilo Lacson who is now a senator….(Star, 22 May 08)

Reports: Israel Released Hizbullah Spy as Good-Will Measure

Syrian and Egyptian newspapers report that Israel has released a Hizbullah spy as the first "good-will gesture" to the Syrians ahead of renewed talks. Mohammed al-Shamali, an Arab man apprehended in 2003, was released Tuesday, just before Israeli and Syrian negotiators resumed contact in Turkey on Wednesday…..(Israel National News, 21 May 08)

US State Dept revokes visas of Erap, others in espionage case

The US State Department has revoked the US visas of at least six current and former government officials, in connection with the first known case of espionage from within the White House involving naturalized FIlipino American Leandro Aragoncillo last year. But a close Estrada associate, whose visa was cancelled, estimates fifteen to twenty opposition figures suffered the cancellation of their visas, including former President Joseph Estrada and former House Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella.  In July 2007, a Federal Court in New Jersey sentenced Aragoncillo, a naturalized Filipino-American intelligence analyst who worked for US Vice-President Richard "Dick" Cheney, to ten years imprisonment. He was charged for stealing classified information about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and passing it on to known opposition leaders in the Philippines… President Estrada, Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson and former Speaker Fuentebella, who were identified as Aragoncillo's co-conspirators in court filings on the case, denied their visas were cancelled. A Senate source, however, disclosed the visas of two staff members of Senator Lacson have been revoked. President Estrada claimed his visa merely lapsed while he was in jail on plunder charges. He said he had gone to the US embassy last week to apply for a new visa and for fingerprinting. Estrada said he plans to visit the US in late June or after he travels to Beijing, China for the Olympics in August…..(ABC-CBN, 21 May 08)

Discrimination Seen in Michigan Spy Case

For the past 11 years, Army tank engineer David Tenenbaum has been trying to undo the damage the government did to him in four days in 1997, when he was accused of being a spy for Israel. It started with a polygraph test administered February 13, where one interrogator yelled epithets about how they knew how to deal with Jews. The next day, Mr. Tenenbaum arrived at work and found his computer gone and his name erased from the classified e-mail system at the Tank Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, Mich....The investigation then went on to quote several Pentagon officials involved in the case against Mr. Tenenbaum acknowledging that his religion and his contacts in Israel were grounds at least in part for launching the investigation against him. A discrimination suit brought by Mr. Tenenbaum was thrown out of federal court after the government requested the judge acknowledge that the Army would need to disclose state secrets in order to mount its defense……(New York Sun, 21 May 08)

Islamic Jihad says Israel-connected spy network discovered in Gaza Strip

The Islamic Jihad movement on Wednesday announced it discovered a spy cell comprising seven collaborators with Israel in the Gaza Strip. Abu Ahmed, a spokesman for the movement's military wing, said the spy cell was discovered ten days ago in southern Gaza Strip and its chief was seized while he guided the Jihad militants to the other members of the network. "The intelligence service" of the Islamic Jihad interrogates the suspected spies who have admitted helping Israel in assassinating senior Palestinian commanders and bombing a Hamas police station a two weeks ago in Rafah city….(Xinhua, 21 May 08)

With alleged spy Ben-Ami Kadish among them, passions are at a fever pitch at retirement village

… Passions are high in Monroe Township about an hour from New York City, where Kadish, the 84-year-old retired mechanical engineer arrested last month on charges of spying for Israel, has lived for the last 12 years. He is charged with four counts of conspiracy for allegedly passing nuclear secrets to Israel between 1979 and 1985 — documents he secreted out of an Army facility in Dover, N.J., where he worked. Since being arraigned April 22 in Manhattan Federal Court, Kadish’s life has been turned upside down. He and his wife, Doris, put up their home as collateral in order to post his $300,000 bail and they are now attempting to raise money to pay their legal bill. And some neighbors have complained about the inconvenience Kadish has caused them in the gated retirement community of The Ponds. For months their mail was regularly delivered very late in the day. Now the mailman has told them why: all mail to the Kadish home had to be inspected before he could make his rounds……(Jewish Week, 21 May 08)

Afghanistan: Taliban claim death of 'female US spy'

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan claim to have killed a woman by slitting her throat after accusing her of spying for US forces in Afghanistan. They said they killed the alleged female American informer in the Afghan valley of Kunar on Monday. "Bachagai, 32, was part of an American proxy network in the Sarkano district's village Barogai," a Taliban spokesperson Zubair Mujahid told Adnkronos International (AKI) from the Kunar valley….(AKI, 21 May 08)

Rebels execute alleged gov't spy

Suspected members of the New People’s Army shot dead a village councilor in Magpet, North Cotabato, belated reports from Cotabato Provincial PNP said. Wilson Latimbang, a councilor of Barangay Noa, was said to be a government spy. His body was found dumped in an abandoned lot in the village, Saturday afternoon….(Minda, 21 May 08)

NEFA Documents: Fmr. U.S. Army Translator Sentenced - Iraqi Insurgent Contacts
A New York judge sentenced former U.S. Army interpreter Noureddine Malki to 121 months in prison for illegally possessing national defense documents, and using a false identity to procure his U.S. citizenship and to gain access to classified military materials. He was subsequently stripped of his U.S. citizenship. In addition to taking clasified documents from Iraq to his residence in Brooklyn, N.Y., he also reportedly "had phone contact with numerous Iraqi phone numbers linked to suspected insurgent forces," according to DOJ.  A number of court filings are available on the NEFA site that relate to this case……(NEFA, 20 May 08)

Man Jailed for Copying Army Secrets

A man whose true identity remained unknown was sentenced to prison on Monday for illegally copying military secrets while working as an Arabic translator for the United States Army in Iraq, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said. Investigators said that they had found the documents in the man’s apartment in Brooklyn in 2003. He has used various names, including Abdulhakeem Nour, Abu Hakim, Noureddine Malki, Almaliki Nour and Almalik Nour Eddin…The defendant originally pleaded guilty in 2005 to using a false identity to obtain United States citizenship, to win a translator’s job and to gain a “top secret” security clearance. This year, he pleaded guilty to unauthorized possession of classified documents…..(New York Times, 20 May 08)

Army translator sentenced to 10 years

…The sentence also covers the contract translator's using a false identity to get his U.S. citizenship and gain access to classified military material, the Justice Department said in a news release. In addition, the court stripped the defendant of his U.S. citizenship because of his conviction for unlawfully getting his citizenship. The defendant -- who goes by various names including Abdulhakeem Nour, Abu Hakim, Noureddine Malki, Almaliki Nour and Almalik Nour Eddin -- pleaded guilty in February 2007 to unauthorized possession of classified documents. He pleaded guilty to false identity in December 2005. The defendant used a false identity in gaining a position as an Arabic translator for the L-3 Titan Corp., which provides translation services in Iraq for U.S. military personnel, the department said. He used the ID to get "Secret" and then "Top Secret" security clearances, and then removed classified documents from the U.S. Army without authorization….(UPI, 19 May 08)

Translator spy in Iraq gets 10 years in jail: US officials

A translator who lied about his identity to get US nationality and kept copies of classified documents about the Iraqi insurgency was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday, justice officials said. The man, whose true identity and nationality remain unknown, was employed in August 2003 as a US army translator in Iraq by the major private contracting firm L-3 Titan Corp, the Justice Department said. Using his false identity, the man -- who has been alternately known as Abdulhakeem Nour, Abu Hakim, Noureddine Malki, Almaliki Nour, and Almalik Nour Eddin -- gained "secret" and then "top secret" security clearance. He used this clearance to gain access to secret military documents without authorization during assignments in Iraq…..(AFP, 19 May 08)

Spy Charges Fuel Georgian Tensions

…Unidentified FSB officials said a Chechen man working for Georgian intelligence had been giving money to fighters in the unstable North Caucasus, news agencies reported Friday. "This confirms the participation of Georgian special forces in subversive terrorist activities in the North Caucasus," an FSB source said, Interfax reported. The source said the agent had admitted that he was working for Georgian security services. He identified the man as Ramzan Turkoshvili, an ethnic Chechen born in the Georgian Soviet Republic in 1974 who holds Russian citizenship….(Moscow Times, 19 May 08)

Houma spy likely won’t face life in prison, lawyers say

…Tai ShenKuo admitted soliciting classified information on sales of U.S. government military technology to Taiwan from an Arlington, Va.-based defense analyst and passing the intelligence on to an agent of the Chinese government for about $50,000 in cash. Though a government news release says Kuo could face up to life in prison, his lawyers say such a scenario is unlikely. Federal sentencing guidelines call for a term of 12 1/2 to 15 1/2 years, they said…..(Houma Today, 18 May 08)

Picture Gallery: Robert Hanssen

Chinese, Russian industrial spies active in Germany - official

Chinese, Russian and Iranian spies have tried to steal industrial secrets from as many as one in two German firms, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing Hartwig Moeller, head of North Rhine-Westphalia's intelligence agency. 'Every second German company has been affected, studies show,' with the loss of information valued at between 15 billion euros and 50 billion euros a year, said Moeller. 'Together with the Chinese it is first and foremost Russian and Iranian intelligence agencies that are active in Germany,'….(Forbes, 16 May 08)

Germany Accuses Russia of Espionage

The German intelligence service has accused Russia and China of using spies and Internet technology to acquire industrial secrets that could seriously damage Europe’s largest economy. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the German counterintelligence service, states in its 2007 report to German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble that foreign intelligence agents are interested in a wide range of industrial targets, as well scientific and technological institutes. The report states that, besides special services agents, Russia uses “nonprofessional spies” – students and scientists…On June 9 of this year, the trial will begin of an employee of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. accused of providing Russian special services with information between May 2004 and December 2006 in exchange for money. That information, although intended for peaceful purposes, could be used for military goals as well. The suspect has confessed to the spying charges…..(Kommersant, 16 May 08)

Germany cites threat of Russian espionage

German intelligence officials Thursday accused Russia of employing spies and Internet technology to obtain industrial secrets that could hurt the German economy, Europe's biggest, and destroy jobs. The domestic federal intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said Germany was highly attractive to foreign spies because of its cutting-edge technology and market leadership in several sectors… Overall, Russia and China were responsible for a good deal of intelligence-gathering activity in Germany, the report said. But the report singled out Russia in the field of industrial espionage…..(Reuters, 16 May 08)

Reports: Russia detains alleged spy working for Georgia

Russia's security service said agents detained a spy allegedly recruited by Georgia to support insurgents in the restive North Caucasus, news agencies reported Friday, adding to escalating tension between the ex-Soviet republics. A Georgian official denied the allegation and called it part of a Russian «policy of provocation» aimed at Georgia, which is the focus of a struggle for regional influence between Moscow and the West. Russia's relations with Georgia are badly strained as the small country's U.S.-allied leader courts the West. Tensions have increased sharply lately over Russia's increasing support for Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia province, a linchpin in Moscow's efforts to thwart Georgia's drive for NATO membership. An unidentified Russian Federal Security Service official identified the alleged agent as Ramzan Turkoshvili, a Georgian-born Russian citizen…..(AP, 16 May 08)

Rosen lawyer wants Jews to 'rise up'

U.S. Jews should "rise up" against the classified information case the government has brought against two former AIPAC employees, the lawyer for one of them said. "The government has misbehaved in this case, but I have to tell you that AIPAC and the Jewish community have misbehaved," Steve Rosen's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said on a Washington-area radio program broadcast May 4. Rosen, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's former foreign policy chief, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, were charged in 2005 with dealing in classified information. Their trial date has yet to be set. The government recently filed a rare pretrial appeal to an appeals court after a number of rulings by federal Judge T.S. Ellis III, sitting in Arlington, Va., undercut much of the prosecution's case…..(JTA, 14 May 08)

Bush Visit Puts Spy Back in Spotlight

A resurgent Israeli right wing and a departing U.S. president add up to a familiar result: a push by Israelis to win a pardon for Jonathan Pollard. He is the former U.S. intelligence analyst whose spying for Israel more than two decades ago still irritates relations between the allies. Politicians and activists hope the visit of President Bush, who arrives Wednesday, will provide the spur for Mr. Pollard's release. "We are planning on putting the Pollard issue on the agenda when Bush arrives,"….(Wall Street Journal, 14 May 08)

Militants behead 'US spy' in Pakistani tribal area

Pro-Taliban militants beheaded a soldier in a Pakistani tribal area after accusing him of spying for US forces across the border in Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday. The headless body of Feroze Khan was found lying in an open area outside Naurak village in the restive North Waziristan district… A note found near the body said the man was a "US spy" and had been punished because he was spying on "mujahedin" (holy warriors) activities in the area, he said. The official said that Khan was kidnapped by militants on April 23……(AFP, 14 May 08)

Spy for Chinese pleads guilty

…Tai Shen Kuo, 58, a businessman who made a name and wealth for himself in more than three decades in Houma and New Orleans, is being held up by the U.S. Justice Department as representative of a new spying threat from China…Kuo signed the plea deal Tuesday in Virginia, agreeing to one count of conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a foreign government. The crime carries a possible life sentence, although Kuo's attorney said prosecutors agreed to recommend a lighter sentence. Kuo signed a statement saying he cultivated a friendship with a Pentagon weapons analyst, gathered secrets about U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan and other American military interests, and passed them along to an unnamed Chinese government official. The damage caused by Kuo's spying is unclear….(Times Picayune, 14 May 08)

Man Gave Military Secrets To China

…Tai Shen Kuo, 58, said in court papers that he plied the official with gifts, cash and dinners to secure classified projections of U.S. military sales to Taiwan. He was paid $50,000 to pass the materials to his Chinese contact through e-mails and telephone calls to Beijing, the documents said. Kuo pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a foreign government. He faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 8. The former official, Gregg W. Bergersen, pleaded guilty last month and could receive up to 10 years in prison. He was a weapons systems policy analyst at the Arlington-based Defense Security Cooperation Agency before resigning a week before his plea……(Washington Post, 14 May 08)

Former Houma businessman pleads guilty to espionage charges

The former Houma restaurateur and tennis pro arrested three months ago by the FBI on international espionage charges pleaded guilty in federal court today to passing national defense information to China. Tai Shen Kuo, 58, a graduate of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, and a longtime Houma homeowner, could face life in prison at his sentencing, set for Aug. 8. “By providing classified information to a foreign government, Tai Shen Kuo compromised our national security for his own profit,” said FBI Executive Assistant Director Arthur M. Cummings in a news release. “The FBI is committed to working with our partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities to safeguard America's sensitive secrets from those who would do us harm.” Kuo’s arrest was part of a federal investigation that also resulted in charges against an Arlington, Va.-based defense analyst (Bergersen) and a 33-year-old Chinese national (Kang) who allegedly acted as an intermediary between Kuo and an unnamed government official of the People’s Republic of China….(Houma Today, 13 May 08)

Thousands Demand Release of Israeli Agent Pollard on Eve of Bush Visit

Monday evening in Jerusalem: Thousands of people yelled, sang, held signs, protested and demanded the release of Jonathan Pollard from US prison. The hope was even mentioned that US President George W. Bush would bring Pollard with him when he arrives in Israel on Wednesday. At the same time, three Pollard letters were in the news: One written by 13 former Prisoners of Zion to Bush, asking him to pardon Pollard and ensure that he does not die in prison; one by the young winner of the International Bible Contest to Prime Minister Olmert, and a third by Pollard himself and his wife Esther, praising the young Bible scholar for her actions…..(Israel National News, 13 May 08)

La. furniture salesman guilty of spying for China

A New Orleans furniture salesman pleaded guilty Tuesday to spying for the Chinese government and providing Beijing with secret information on military relations between the U.S. and Taiwan. Tai Shen Kuo, a naturalized U.S. citizen with prominent family connections in Taiwan, provided gambling money and promises of a job to a Defense Department analyst who gave him classified information in 2007. Taiwanese military officials have said the disclosures caused some damage but did not compromise key technology… Kuo pleaded guilty to a single count of espionage in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. In court papers, Kuo admitted that he received $50,000 from the Chinese government for his efforts. Kuo provided the defense analyst, Gregg W. Bergersen, several thousand dollars in gambling money on trips the pair took to Las Vegas, as well as promises of employment at a company Kuo hoped to establish. Bergersen, of Alexandria, Va., pleaded guilty to his role in March and faces up to 10 years in prison… A third person charged in the case, Chinese national Yu Xin Kang, who allegedly acted as a go-between for Kuo and Chinese agents, is in jail awaiting trial.…..(AP, 13 May 08)

U.S. citizen born in Taiwan admits spying for China

A U.S. citizen born in Taiwan pleaded guilty on Tuesday to passing national defense secrets to China for about $50,000, the Justice Department said. It said Tai Shen Kuo, 58, a New Orleans businessman arrested in February, admitted his guilt in federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia. He faces up to life in prison at his sentencing scheduled for August 8. According to court documents, the conspiracy took place from March 2007 until this February. Kuo obtained the secret information, mainly involving U.S. military sales to Taiwan and U.S. military communications security, from Gregg Bergersen, who was a U.S. Defense Department analyst…..(Reuters, 13 May 08)

New Orleans Businessman Pleads Guilty to Espionage Charge Involving China

Tai Shen Kuo, age 58, of New Orleans, La., pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of Virginia to a one-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a foreign government, namely, the People's Republic of China (PRC), in violation of 18 U.S.C., Section 794(a), (c). Kuo was arrested on Feb. 11, 2008 on a criminal complaint charging this same offense…According to a Statement of Facts filed in Court with Kuo's Plea Agreement, the criminal conduct spanned the time period of March 2007 to February 2008. During this time, Kuo, a naturalized U.S. citizen, obtained national defense information from Gregg W. Bergersen -- a Weapons Systems Policy Analyst at the Arlington, Va.-based Defense Security Cooperation Agency, an agency within the Department of Defense -- on several occasions. The information pertained primarily to U.S. military sales to Taiwan and U.S. military communications security and was classified at the Secret level….(Sun Herald, 13 May 08)

Suspected German Spy to Go on Trial

A German engineer who worked for EADS's Eurocopter unit will go on trial June 9 on charges of selling information to a Russian intelligence agent, a Munich court said. The suspect -- identified only as Werner Franz G. -- is accused of providing "predominantly civil but also military" information to an "agent of a Russian intelligence service," the Munich state court said late last week without being more specific……(AP, 12 May 08)

Sudanese convicted of espionage at trial in Germany

At the start of his trial last month, he admitted observing the other Sudanese, and making video films of them, for a fee of 100 euros (155 dollars) monthly. The accused, 40, has been in custody since his arrest six months ago. The court said he was in the pay of an official at the Sudanese embassy in Berlin from August 2006 till his arrest in October 2007. Evidence showed Khartoum wanted to know about the actions of German-based opponents of its Islamist policies and actions in Darfur……(Top News, 9 May 08)

Ex-911 operator accused of illegal database searches

…The fired employee, Nadire P. Zenelaj, 32, of Rochester insists she did nothing wrong and is being singled out because she is Muslim… At least one of the 227 names that Zenelaj searched for was on the terrorist watch list, according to police. She was fired in December, arrested Tuesday and pleaded not guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor official misconduct and 232 felony counts of computer trespass — one for each allegedly illegal search. As for knowing someone on the watch list, Zenelaj said: "Regardless of that person, I've seen many people on many lists." In a telephone interview, she said that when she was trained on the database systems, instructors told her that she needed to practice and that was all she was doing… The databases, according to the city, include "highly sensitive" confidential information, such as outstanding arrest warrants and restricted law enforcement records……(Democrat & Chronicle, 8 May 08)

Nadire ZELENAJ - a Muslim 911 Dispatcher Arrested

The FBI charged Nadire ZELENAJ, a 9-1-1 dispatcher in Rochester, (Monroe County) New York with 232 counts of computer trespassing for unauthorized access of law enforcement sensitive databases containing information about terrorist suspects and related investigations. ZELENAJ, pictured at left, also allegedly accessed other secure databases containing proprietary data, including but not limited to New York State drivers license data. According to information provided by sources exclusive to the Northeast Intelligence Network, ZELENAJ is part of a larger investigation involving at least ten-(10) others, some who are members of a local Islamic Center…..(Network Intelligence Network, 8 May 08)

Trial set for German engineer Werner Franz G. charged with spying for Russians

A German engineer who worked for the European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co.'s Eurocopter unit will go on trial next month on charges of selling information to a Russian intelligence agent, a Munich court said Thursday. The suspect — identified only as Werner Franz G. — is accused of providing "predominantly civil but also military" information to an "agent of a Russian intelligence service," the Munich state court said without being more specific.The mechanical engineer allegedly received ?13,000 (US$20,000) in exchange for documents, handbooks and other information for "technical products,"…..(AP, 8 May 08)

Truth unwritten on socialite spy - Moura Budberg

TV Review: My Secret Agent Auntie, BBC4

…Moura Budberg was a glamorous socialite, a Russian baroness who, after two husbands, became a lover of Maxim Gorky… she was under surveillance by MI5 who thought she wasn't quite the thing, chaps, especially when her friend Guy Burgess turned out to be a spy. Nothing stuck, but after her death stories came out that suggested everything from knowing, well in advance, that Anthony Blunt was also a spy to having been involved in a plot to overthrow the Bolshevik government in 1917. Perhaps with accordions……(Scotsman, 8 May 08)

Lots of speculation regarding Kadish arrest rationale
Is it connected to the classified information case against two former AIPAC staffers? A bid to pressure Israel to concede more to the Palestinians ahead of a new round of peace talks? Connected to the murky circumstances of Israel's mysterious airstrike in Syria last September? For now, the main question surrounding the case of Ben- Ami Kadish, the octogenarian New Jersey man arrested this week for allegedly sharing classified information with Israel decades ago is: Why now?  The charges against Kadish are serious. He is accused of having shared with his Israeli handler U.S. nuclear secrets, plans for combat aircraft improvements and missile defense information. But they should be way past their due date: The statute of limitations on the charges is 10 years, unless they incur the death penalty. Prosecutors have yet to say whether or not they intend to pursue the death penalty against Kadish, who has not been indicted……(JTA, 7 May 08)

Falcon and the Snowman trying to live quiet lives

…Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee had met while serving as altar boys at St. John Fisher Catholic Church in the upscale community of Rancho Palos Verdes…Lee, the adopted son of a wealthy physician, found acceptance among his peers through drugs. It was his addiction to powdery white cocaine from which the moniker "the Snowman" was born. Boyce drifted for a while, until his father, a former FBI agent, secured him a job at TRW, an aerospace firm with offices in Redondo Beach…As Boyce's disgust with the government escalated, he saw a way to act on it and make some money at the same time. He began smuggling sensitive documents out of the vault, then passing them to Lee, who had made contact with the KGB on his behalf. In 1973, TRW had won a CIA contract to design a communications satellite dubbed "The Pyramid." It was while Lee was trying to deliver photographs of its secret design to the Soviet Embassy in Mexico that he was apprehended by authorities. Boyce was arrested and confessed several days later. Each was convicted of espionage in 1977. Lee was sentenced to life in federal prison, but was paroled in 1998. While in prison, he learned woodworking, a skill he continued after he returned to the South Bay…For his role, Boyce was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. He escaped from prison and lived on the lam for 19 months, robbing banks before he was finally caught in Washington… Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols and Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski. After spending six months at a halfway house in San Francisco, Boyce became a free man at age 50. He married shortly before his parole and left custody to live a quiet life with his new wife……(LA Daily, 6 May 08)

Capture of Christopher Boyce   

Christopher Boyce sold secrets to Soviets