Germany arrests British man with embassy ties as suspected Russian spy

By Loveday Morris,

Michael Sohn AP

BERLIN — A British employee of the country’s embassy in Berlin has been arrested on suspicion of passing information to a Russian intelligence agent in exchange for cash, German authorities said Wednesday.

The 57-year-old man, identified by prosecutors as David S, is “strongly suspected” of having worked for a foreign secret service agency since November “at the latest,” according to a statement from Germany’s federal public prosecutor.

He was arrested in Potsdam, about 15 miles southwest of Berlin, after a warrant was issued Tuesday following a joint investigation by British and German authorities, the statement said, adding that his home and workplace were searched.

Prosecutors alleged that on at least one occasion, the suspect passed documents obtained in the course of his work to a representative of a Russian intelligence service. He is accused of receiving cash of an “unknown amount” in return.

David S was scheduled to appear in front of an investigating judge on Wednesday.

“An individual who was contracted to work for the government was arrested yesterday by the German authorities,” the British Home Office said in a statement. “It would not be appropriate to comment further as there is an ongoing police investigation.”

It is the latest in a series of arrests in Europe of suspects alleged to have been working for Russian and Chinese intelligence agencies. Security officials in Britain and Germany have given new warnings about attempts by hostile foreign governments to steal commercial and research data in efforts to interfere in politics.

In June, German authorities said that they had arrested a Russian research assistant at a German university for passing information on the institute to Russian agents in return for unspecified amounts of cash. The following month, the head of a German political think tank was charged with spying for China and regularly passing on information to their intelligence agents following state visits or international conferences.

With Germany preparing for parliamentary elections in September, Thomas Haldenwang, the head of the country’s domestic intelligence agency, warned last month that there had been a spate of phishing attacks on political targets that could indicate attempts by foreign powers to interfere in the vote.

Last year, the European Union sanctioned two Russian officials over the hacking of the German parliament in 2015. The email account of Chancellor Angela Merkel was among those affected.

Britain has also pledged to crack down on spying by hostile states, proposing a new law in May to give its security services more powers.

Britain also accuses Russia of being behind the attempted killing of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England, in 2018. London and other European governments expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation.

Germany authorities have also accused Russia of being behind the assassination of a former Chechen rebel in Berlin’s central Tiergarten park the following year. The suspected gunman is currently on trial.

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