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'Russian spy' banker slipped through FBI's fingers and fled to Moscow
A Daily Mail caveat but geez this thing sounds like an episode of 'The Americans'...
Link to tweet
An accused Russian spy who worked as a merchant banker in New York City called convicted spy Maria Butina after 30 FBI agents showed up at her apartment with a battering ram.
Elena Branson, 61, who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, was accused of running a 'Russian propaganda center' in New York and communicating directly with President Vladimir Putin. She shared details of her encounter with the law during a cozy chat with Butina broadcast on Russian state broadcaster RT, and recalled how Butina had been one of the first people she'd contacted.
Speaking to Butina with the informal verbs Russians use to address friends, she said the agents also questioned her about the activities of KSORS, where Branson was serving as chairperson.
'When I opened the door, there were about 30 FBI agents standing on the doorstep, all of them dressed in uniform, carrying guns and wearing bulletproof vests, and armed with a battering ram,' Branson recalled to Butina last year.
'They served me with a search warrant and a warrant allowing them to detain me if they so decided. They then asked me to leave and spent the next several hours searching the apartment.'
The search resulted in the seizure of 34 electronics, including 11 cell phones, from Branson's home and the Russian Center of New York's Manhattan office, the complaint states.
'They took away all the iPhones, all the iPads, 3-4 computers that I had. They seized all the documents that were related to taxes and KSORS' activities,' Branson said.
The Manhattan-based merchant banker allegedly called Butina immediately after the raid and the convicted spy helped her find an attorney...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10594625/Russian-spy-fled-help-Maria-Butina-FBI-raided-NYC-apartment.html
Elena Branson, 61, who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, was accused of running a 'Russian propaganda center' in New York and communicating directly with President Vladimir Putin. She shared details of her encounter with the law during a cozy chat with Butina broadcast on Russian state broadcaster RT, and recalled how Butina had been one of the first people she'd contacted.
Speaking to Butina with the informal verbs Russians use to address friends, she said the agents also questioned her about the activities of KSORS, where Branson was serving as chairperson.
'When I opened the door, there were about 30 FBI agents standing on the doorstep, all of them dressed in uniform, carrying guns and wearing bulletproof vests, and armed with a battering ram,' Branson recalled to Butina last year.
'They served me with a search warrant and a warrant allowing them to detain me if they so decided. They then asked me to leave and spent the next several hours searching the apartment.'
The search resulted in the seizure of 34 electronics, including 11 cell phones, from Branson's home and the Russian Center of New York's Manhattan office, the complaint states.
'They took away all the iPhones, all the iPads, 3-4 computers that I had. They seized all the documents that were related to taxes and KSORS' activities,' Branson said.
The Manhattan-based merchant banker allegedly called Butina immediately after the raid and the convicted spy helped her find an attorney...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10594625/Russian-spy-fled-help-Maria-Butina-FBI-raided-NYC-apartment.html
Now another twist in this case..
Link to tweet
5 replies
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