Alleged treason at the BND: spies and diamonds


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Status: 02/02/2023 12:01 p.m

Arthur E. is said to have helped a BND employee to reveal secret information to Russia. Who is the ex-soldier who kept flying to Moscow and apparently also dealt in secret papers in addition to diamonds?

By Manuel Bewarder, Florian Flade and Palina Milling, WDR/NDR

Arthur E. apparently started his last trip to Moscow on October 6, 2022. In a country that months before had started a war of aggression in Europe. At that time there were already no more direct flights from Germany to Russia. The German citizen E. is said to have come by Aeroflot airline via Istanbul Ataturk Airport. At least that’s what Russian flight databases show WDR, NDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ) together with the Dossier Center, a research platform financed by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

German investigators now assume that Arthur E. had secret documents from the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) with him on this trip. At an apparently very conspiratorial meeting in Moscow, he is said to have passed the information directly to employees of a Russian intelligence service. A few days later, E. is said to have flown back to Istanbul. The reason for travel is stated in the flight documents: Business.

Busy globetrotter

Arthur E., 31 years old, was born in Russia and has only been a German citizen since 1999. He has recently been listed as the second suspect in what is probably one of the most spectacular cases of espionage in this country. The Attorney General accuses E. of having helped BND employee Carsten L. to have passed on secret documents to the Russian intelligence service FSB. L. had been arrested in Berlin shortly before Christmas.

Much about the case is still unclear. But one thing is certain: ex-soldier Arthur E. was a busy globetrotter. There are hundreds of entries in flight databases. E. is said to have traded in diamonds and precious metals, among other things – and probably also in secret papers.

Accomplice unpacked

According to the databases, E. has flown to Russia at least six times since Russia’s attack on Ukraine last February. In addition to the route via Turkey, he also chose Dubai as the place of departure. Apparently, however, not only Moscow was his destination in Russia: According to the entries, E. should also have been in Sochi, Kazan, Kirov or Nizhnekamsk. An evaluation of the past few years also shows destinations such as New York, Los Angeles, Dubai, Baku, Belgrade, Tbilisi, Prague, Doha, Shanghai, Geneva, Zurich – and then Russia again and again. Why didn’t someone like E. get on the radar of German security authorities much earlier?

It is said that at the end of 2022 it was American border officials who took E. aside and questioned him when he was visiting relatives in the USA. Perhaps they had noticed his frequent flying and frequent trips to Russia. E. is said to have been questioned by the US Federal Police FBI while still in the USA.

When he flew back from Miami to Munich at the end of January, where he is said to have last lived, officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) were already waiting there. As the “Spiegel” first reported, E. should talk extensively about the allegations in the USA and Germany. He allegedly admitted the handing over of the BND papers. There can be no talk of treason, however: E. is said to have stated that he assumed he was on a conspiratorial mission for the BND. On behalf of Carsten L. that is. According to the news magazine, E. is said to have incriminated another BND employee: he did not hand over money that had been paid for the information directly to Carsten L., but to one of his BND colleagues.

How credible is E.?

Carsten L.’s lawyers have not yet answered any content-related inquiries. WDR, NDR and SZ have not been able to make any inquiries to Arthur E. so far. The Attorney General also declined to comment on the ongoing investigation. According to the research, the statements made by E. are currently of particular relevance to the investigators. Its credibility could therefore become very important.

For a 31-year-old businessman, E. has so far left surprisingly few public traces. There are no official profiles on Facebook or LinkedIn. There is also no website for his diamond business. However, E. was presumably more active when it came to online ratings: He has apparently rated hotels, bars, restaurants or supermarkets more than 1000 times, from Brazil to Dubai, Israel and Russia to the Bavarian provinces. Just a few months ago, he apparently left a review of an inn in the BND employee’s hometown. A few weeks later, E. allegedly stayed in a hotel near the BND headquarters in Berlin.

Encounter in football

Arthur E. was apparently born in Volgograd, Russia. In 2009 he is said to have joined the Bundeswehr. There he worked in the IT department, among other things, and was temporarily deployed in Mainz. But he left the Bundeswehr earlier than planned. He apparently lived in Munich and has been trading in diamonds and other precious stones for a few years. In North Rhine-Westphalia he apparently registered an import and export company with a partner. He is also said to be the managing director of a trading company in Sierra Leone. His name even appears in connection with oil deals in Nigeria. His alleged business partner explains that he has not reached E. for about a week.

An important question is how the alleged betrayal of Russia was engineered: The frequent flyer and the BND employee are said to have met in 2021 at a football festival in Upper Bavaria. A chance encounter? L. was a football coach at his home club for many years and was a senior employee in the intelligence service’s technical reconnaissance (TA) department. Technical reconnaissance has its headquarters in Pullach near Munich. Officials there work closely with other intelligence services to monitor electronic communications around the world. What comes together there is of great importance, especially in war. L. had evidently been dissatisfied with his work for a long time, which some people around him probably knew.

Breaking information known

At some point, the two are said to have agreed to pass on secret documents about Ukraine to Russia. But it was not until October 2022 that the BND became aware of the betrayal through a tip from abroad. Within a few weeks, L. was identified as a possible mole. In November, the Attorney General took over. Carsten L., who had just been promoted to a leading position in the security department that is supposed to monitor BND employees, was arrested shortly before Christmas.

The foreign intelligence service asks, among other things, why Carsten L. passed all the security checks. According to information from WDR, NDR and SZ, explosive information was known to the BND. People from L.’s environment are said to have stated in surveys that the BND man thinks “nationally”, even “very nationally”. He may sympathize with the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is now being observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Party material was also seen on him.

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