Paul Whelan, the US citizen accused of spying in Russia, was found with “evidence that constitutes state secrets,” his lawyer told CNN on Tuesday.
Whelan, 48, was arrested in Moscow December 28 on suspicion of carrying out an act of espionage, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has said. He was found with evidence constituting state secrets when he was detained, his lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov told CNN.
Whelan’s family says he was in the country only for a vacation.
Whelan arrived in Russia December 22 to attend a retired fellow Marine’s wedding, his brother David Whelan told CNN. The day of his arrest, he had been with the wedding party at the Kremlin, serving as a guide to wedding guests who were visiting Russia for the first time, his brother said. Later that day, he didn’t arrive at the wedding, and the newlyweds filed a missing-person report with Russian authorities.
The FSB, Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, announced Whelan’s arrest the following Monday. His family rejects the accusation that he was a spy.
Since his arrest, Whelan has been held without bail in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison. He was expected in court Tuesday for a pretrial hearing. Vladimir Zherebenkov, Whelan’s lawyer in Russia, said he filed an appeal against the detention in early January, calling it unwarranted and excessive.
Zherebenkov said the prison was treating Whelan well, and he was in a good mood and feeling well.
Whelan’s hearing will be held in Moscow City Court. If found guilty, Whelan faces up to 20 years in prison, Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported.
A US Embassy representative will attend public portions of the hearing, David Whelan said.
US citizen, retired marine, security director
Whelan is the global security director for the Michigan-based automotive components supplier BorgWarner. He began working for the company in 2017 and has been responsible for the physical securities of BorgWarner’s facilities, the company has said.
Before that, Whelan was a senior manager for Kelly Services, a global office staffing company, until 2016.
He served 14 years in the US Marine Corps Reserve and completed two Iraq tours, in 2004 and 2006. In 2008, he was discharged for bad conduct.
Whelan was convicted at a special court-martial on an attempted larceny charge, according to military court documents. The conviction says he tried to steal $10,410 during his time in Iraq.
His ties to Russia
A 2007 Marine Corps article says Whelan spent his military leave in 2006 visiting Russia, “experiencing the post-Soviet era of Moscow and St. Petersburg.”
His brother said he liked to travel around the world, but may have been particularly drawn back to Russia because of friends he had met on social media.
Whelan had apparently been using the Russian social media platform VKontakte — which is similar to Facebook — for the past 13 years. A profile under his name uploaded pictures from around the world and posted several comments in Russian.
His last status update reads “next stop, Moscow…”
On the day he was arrested, Whelan’s page shows someone logged into his profile under his name.
Russian source says he had classified information
An unidentified source told Russian news site Rosbalt that Whelan was arrested in his hotel room with a flash drive containing classified information. The news site said its source was in the Russian special services.
CNN has not independently verified that these are the official Russian allegations against Whelan.
The source told Rosbalt that Whelan allegedly met with a Russian citizen he had previously tried to recruit as an agent to gather information on the Russian intelligence agency’s staff. He allegedly received an electronic device with a list of employees in a classified department shortly before he was arrested, Rosbalt reported.
