A US government contract employee working for the Justice and State Departments has been arrested on espionage charges unsealed on Thursday that include passing classified information to Ethiopia, prosecutors said.
The US Department of Justice said in a statement that charges have been brought against Abraham Teclo Lima (50 years old) in connection with a complaint dating back to late August that was revealed on Thursday.
The ministry explained that he faces three charges, including “transmitting information related to national defense to assist a foreign government, conspiring to provide national defense information to assist a foreign government, and intentionally retaining information related to national defense.”
Prosecutors did not mention Ethiopia by name but said Lemma spied for a country to which he has family ties and was a former citizen. The Justice Department described Lima as an “American citizen of Ethiopian descent.”
The Justice Department said Lima used an encrypted application to transfer classified information related to national defense to a foreign government official linked to a foreign country’s intelligence service.
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2023-09-22 02:33:41
