German Arrested for Spying for Russia
A civilian NATO employee arrested in Germany last week on spying charges was working for Russian intelligence, a news report said Monday.
The employee at Ramstein Air Base, identified only as Manfred K., downloaded tactical plans for U.S. operations worldwide as well as secret computer passwords for military top brass, the Times of London reported.
The material was so good that the Federal Security Service, or FSB, was prepared to offer £7 million ($11 million) in cash, the report said, quoting a “senior security journalist in Germany.”
Ramstein is home to both a U.S. air base and a NATO command center.
It was unclear, however, why the FSB would be involved in the case. Unlike the Foreign and the Military Intelligence services, it runs no overseas operations. None of the agencies commented on the report Monday.
The Times’ report resembled a story published by German weekly Focus last weekend that said the suspected spy was motivated by frustration with his U.S. superiors.
Both reports said the man had been downloading sensitive data for years, an allegation that German officials denied on Monday.