What is the surprising method found in the sting operation that a couple of engineers who tried to sell confidential information of a nuclear submarine to a foreign country are prosecuted?
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The US Department of Justice announced on October 10, 2021 that it had arrested a nuclear engineer and his spouse in Maryland for attempting to sell technical information about a nuclear submarine abroad. The suspects colluded and provided information to agents of foreign institutions who were actually sting operations, but it was reported that a surprisingly primitive technique was used to pass the information. I am.
Maryland Nuclear Engineer and Spouse Arrested on Espionage-Related Charges | OPA | Department of Justice
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/maryland-nuclear-engineer-and-spouse-arrested-espionage-related-charges
US navy engineer charged after hiding secret documents in peanut butter sandwich | ITV News
https://www.itv.com/news/2021-10-10/us-navy-engineer-charged-with-trying-to-pass-secrets-about-nuclear-powered-subs
42-year-old nuclear engineer Jonathan Toby and his wife, 45-year-old Diana Toby, were arrested by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service on October 9 on suspicion of violating nuclear law. I'm a suspect. Both suspects have repeatedly attempted to sell sensitive information about nuclear technology to foreign agencies, who were FBI undercover agents rather than foreign agency agents.
According to the announcement, Jonathan Toby received $ 10,000 worth of crypto assets on June 8 in 'sincerity' from undercover investigators, and in return, confidential information on June 26. Was handed over to the investigator. The method of passing that information was to place the SD card hidden in the peanut butter sandwich in a designated delivery place called 'dead drop'. At that time, his wife, Diana Toby, was a watchman.
After that, the investigator who collected the SD card peanut butter sand paid an additional $ 20,000 worth of crypto assets as a reward, while Jonathan Toby gave the SD card decryption key. I sent it by email. Then, when the information in the SD card was decrypted using the decryption key, it contained data on the design and performance of the
The suspects continued to sell information to undercover agents, some of whom even put SD cards in chewing gum packages in return for $ 70,000 worth of crypto assets.
According to the FBI, a series of investigations reported that in April 2020 Jonathan Toby sent Navy documents to foreign governments saying they were 'interested in selling sensitive information such as operational manuals and reports.' It started from. The specific government of which country has not been announced. After more than a year of sting operations, the suspect couple were arrested on October 9, 2021.
In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, 'The complaint alleges that the suspects attempted to send information about the design of an American nuclear submarine abroad. FBI, Attorney General of the Department of Justice, Investigative efforts by the Navy Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Ministry of Energy were important in stopping the attempts in the complaint and taking the first step to bring the criminal to justice. '
The two will appear in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia on October 12.
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