Russia Charges US Businessman Gene Spector with Espionage

Russia has charged US national and businessman Gene Spector with espionage on top of an earlier jail sentence after bribing an assistant of former Russian deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich. The charge puts more pressure on the US government as it attempts to bring several of its detained citizens back home from Russia.

According to Russian state media agencies RIA and TASS, Moscow's Lefortovo court remanded Spector in pre-trial custody on suspicion of espionage, which could be punishable by a 10- to 20-year prison sentence.

"The court granted the request of the investigation to detain a U.S. citizen Spector on charges under Article 276 (espionage) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation," TASS quoted an unidentified source at the court as saying.

The Russian outlets have also not provided any further details of Spector's charges but said the court session was held behind closed doors as the case materials were classified.

Who is Gene Spector?

According to TASS, Spector was born in what is now St. Petersburg and then moved to the United States. Before his 2021 arrest, he served as chairman of the board of Medpolymerprom Group, a company specializing in cancer-curing drugs.

The Associated Press reported Spector was initially sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for enabling bribes to Dvorkovich's aide, Anastasia Alekseyeva, who herself was sentenced to 12 years for taking bribes for two expensive overseas vacation trips.

Meanwhile, White House spokesperson John Kirby told CNN the Biden administration was still collecting information about the case and had no comment yet. Another US official at the American embassy in Moscow also confirmed Spector was already in jail but had no further information about his new charges.

Aside from Spector, Washington has been in negotiation with Moscow about ways to bring back other US citizens detained in Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

Possibility of a Prisoner Swap Being Considered

On the other hand, the Kremlin confirmed it has held some discussions with White House officials but has reportedly said swaps could only be considered after trials and has cautioned that US attempts to speak publicly about the talks would undermine their efforts, Reuters reported.

Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov added Wednesday (August 16) both Moscow and Washington operate an effective channel to swap prisoners.

Last year, US basketball star Brittney Griner was released in a prisoner swap after having been sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil - which is banned in Russia - after a judicial process labeled a sham by Washington.

The US has also advised its citizens to leave Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Brazil refused a US request to extradite Sergey Cherkasov, who Western intelligence agencies say is a Russian spy who tried to use a false identity to infiltrate the International Criminal Court (ICC).