In the United States, a couple arrested for nuclear espionage

On Sunday, the US Justice Department announced that a US couple, including a US Navy engineer, had been arrested in West Virginia and charged with nuclear espionage for a foreign government, and was in fact an undercover FBI agent who paid them with cryptocurrency.

Read alsospying:Pegasus Bras»

«For about a year“Writing for the US Department of Justice, 42-year-old nuclear engineer Jonathan Toby, with the assistance of his wife, 45-year-old Diana,”He sold protected information about the design of nuclear-powered warships to someone he believed to be a representative of a foreign power“But who was it?”Secret FBI Agent».

The federal prosecutor’s complaint, which was published, tells how this agent contacted the suspect, who works in the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program, after intercepting an initial package containing in particular “Naval documents» and a computer card showing the procedure for creating a contact on an encrypted messaging system. The package was intended for a foreign country, which the courts did not disclose.

Cryptocurrency for $100,000

According to excerpts from the exchanges, the secret agent offers “Present“by”From a trusted friend in your country» But the engineer based in Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, warned and wants to be paid in cryptocurrency. Several times between June and August, the man received payments in cryptocurrency for $100,000, in exchange for handing over classified information regarding the submarines’ nuclear reactors. This data was contained on encrypted SD cards, deposited at pre-arranged locations in West Virginia, and hidden in a peanut butter sandwich or a pack of gum. The engineer wrote there under the name “Alice».

The couple were arrested by the FBI on Saturday after they again dropped an SD card in a meeting place. Toebbe, who is accused of violating the Atomic Energy Act, will appear in court for the first time on Tuesday in the case in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia.