Federal prosecutors on Monday charged three men for their alleged involvement in a Russian spy ring.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation alleges that Evgeny Buryakov was working for the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, to gather economic intelligence in the U.S. Two men, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy, were also charged with providing Buryakov with direction and communicating information he gathered back to Moscow.
{mosads}Buryakov was arrested but neither Sporyshev or Podobnyy were taken into custody, because they both left the U.S.
Sporyshev and Podobnyy were serving in diplomatic posts, and protected by diplomatic immunity while in America.
“We will use every tool at our disposal to identify and hold accountable foreign agents operating inside this country — no matter how deep their cover,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement about the arrest.
The Justice Department complaint alleges that Buryakov used his position at a Russian bank to gain access to information about a manufacturing deal and documents he believed were related to the U.S. government’s sanctions against Russia.
He is charged with acting as a foreign agent without notifying the Justice Department, as is required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The charging document includes two counts: conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
According to the charging document, Buryakov met with an FBI source who said that he was interested in working with his bank to invest in casinos in Russia.
The two traveled to the source’s office in Atlantic City, N.J., where the FBI source allegedly provided Buryakov with a list of Russians sanctioned by the U.S. that was labeled “Internal Treasury Use Only.”
On another occasion, Buryakov allegedly accepted a document from the source that was labeled “Unclassified” but appeared to be from the U.S. government.
The FBI complaint also alleges that Buryakov was asked by one of his supervisors to provide insight into effect of U.S. sanctions.
According to the FBI, Sporyshev called Buryakov and asked him to research the “effects of economic sanctions on our country.” He allegedly said he would meet Buryakov in 20 minutes.
The agency says that a later search of Buryakov’s computer revealed that he had searched the internet using the phrases “sanctions Russia consiquences” [sic] and “sanctions Russia impact” during that time.
The FBI also alleges that Buryakov and his colleagues assisted an unnamed Russian state-owned news agency in gathering intelligence. The complaint claims Buryakov was asked to create questions for the news organization that would help it in gathering intelligence
The complaint draws on evidence gathered through wiretaps and covert recordings. In one notable exchange, authorities say that Sporyshev and Podobnyy chatted in the SVR’s New York office about the mundane aspects of the intelligence profession.
In the 2013 conversation recounted in the complaint, Podobnyy allegedly complains that his professional life lacks intrigue. At one point, he bemoans that he is “sitting with a cookie right now” and then curses.
“Of course, I wouldn’t fly helicopters, but pretend to be someone else at a minimum,” he said, according to the complaint.
“I also thought that at least I would go abroad with a different passport,” Sporyshev replied.
Buryakov’s arrest comes amid high tensions between the U.S. and Russia. In 2010, federal officials arrested 10 Russian agents and said they had been placed in the U.S. to infiltrate powerful institutions.
The U.S. has also led the imposition of sanctions on Russia for annexing the Crimean peninsula and backing separatists in Ukraine.
With violence intensifying in Ukraine, President Obama pledged Sunday to consider all non-military action in responding to Russia. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin compared the comments to blackmail.
Federal prosecutors acknowledged those tensions on Monday.
“Following our previous prosecution with the FBI of Russian spies … the arrest of Evgeny Buryakov and the charges against him and his co-defendants make clear that — more than two decades after the presumptive end of the Cold War — Russian spies continue to seek to operate in our midst under cover of secrecy,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara.