A 42-year-old man and his 45-year-old wife have been arrested in the US on suspicion of espionage. The man is an engineer in the US Navy and is said to have sold classified information about a nuclear submarine together with his wife. Only the buyer turned out not to be a representative of another country, but an undercover FBI agent.
The arrested are Jonathan Toebbe and his wife Diana, the Justice Department reports in a press release about the remarkable case. The engineer is said to have contacted an undisclosed country by post in April 2020. According to the ministry, this eventually led to a months-long undercover operation.
Toebbe had access to classified data on nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered warships. In the spring of 2020, he sent a package with this information to the government of country X. He also made it clear that he could deliver more for a fee.
‘This is not a hoax’
“I apologize for the poor translation into your language,” the letter of instructions read. “Please forward this to your military intelligence. I believe this information is of great importance to your nation. This is not hoax.”
The FBI got their hands on the spy station, how exactly is unclear. An undercover agent then contacted Toebbe, ostensibly as an official of country X. In exchange for thousands of dollars in crypto coins, he agreed to take more information. The contact was via encrypted e-mails.
peanut butter
On June 8, 2021, the undercover agent “in good faith” sent $10,000 as a down payment. Later that month, Jonathan and Diana traveled to a location in the state of West Virginia. The wife stood on the lookout while her husband delivered a memory card – hidden in half a peanut butter sandwich – at a so-called dead drop. That’s a spy term for a hidden space to exchange data.
The FBI then paid an additional $20,000 in cryptocurrencies. Reading the data revealed that secret information had indeed been provided. Among other things, about the design and capabilities of the nuclear submarines. This procedure was thus repeated several times over a number of months.
The two suspects were arrested on Saturday. They are expected to appear in West Virginia next Tuesday. As far as is known, the couple has not yet responded to the allegations.
–
