A man went shopping in Rome, Italy – Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP
Arrested Tuesday for espionage for the benefit of Russia, the Italian officer could not “meet” his expenses with his salary, said his wife
in an interview published this Thursday by the daily Il Corriere della Sera.
His salary of “3,000 euros was no longer enough for a family with 4 children, 4 dogs, (…) 1,200 euros of mortgage to repay per month”, explains Claudia Carbonara, the wife of Walter Biot, arrested while giving classified documents to a Russian officer in exchange for 5,000 euros.
The officer “needed money and it was known”
“He was desperate. Desperate for our future and that of our children (…) Walter had been in crisis for some time, he was afraid of no longer being able to meet all our expenses (…) Because of the Covid, we have become impoverished ”, tries to justify this psychotherapist specializing in couples therapy during a telephone conversation with a journalist from the Corriere.
“If only he had told me about it, we would have discussed it together, I would have tried to talk him out. But he decided on his own (…) I can’t reach him, I can’t even find a lawyer for him, ”she explains. According to testimonies collected by the Corriere from his colleagues, Walter Biot, a 56-year-old frigate captain who worked at the Defense Staff in Rome, “needed money and it was known”.
“If he has really sold he has no excuses”
“The Russians had to play on his weaknesses, on his personal problems”, according to a colleague who knows him well, quoted by the newspaper. “What he did is very serious for the security of the country and NATO, if he really sold himself he has no excuses and he ruined his life. He risks at least 15 years in prison, ”he said.
Walter Biot had started his career as a non-commissioned officer in the Navy, then thanks to internal competitions had become a frigate captain, before moving to the naval staff where he was in charge of relations with the press. From 2010 to 2015, he was in the office of the Minister of Defense, before arriving at the Defense Staff. Another of his colleagues quoted by the Corriere Still can’t believe it: “It’s like being told that someone you trust has done an incredible act. For us Walter was a friend we had no doubts about ”.