German police on Tuesday arrested a British man working at the British embassy in Berlin on suspicion of passing documents to the Russian intelligence service in exchange for money, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
German prosecutors said the man’s apartment and workplace, identified only as David S, had been searched and he would be brought before an investigating judge on Wednesday.
“On at least one occasion he has passed on documents he obtained in the course of his professional activities to a representative of a Russian intelligence service,” the federal attorney general said in a statement.
“The accused received the money in an amount as yet unknown in exchange for his transmission of information,” he added.
The man was arrested on Tuesday in Potsdam, outside Berlin. He was hired as a local embassy employee until his arrest, which was the result of a joint investigation by German and British authorities, prosecutors said.
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A Metropolitan Police statement said the 57-year-old man was arrested “on suspicion of committing crimes related to involvement in ‘intelligence agent activity’ (under German law).”
The Met Counterterrorism Command is responsible for investigating alleged violations of the Official Secrets Act.
He must appear before a judge at the Federal Court of Justice later.
A British Interior Ministry spokesman said: “An individual who was hired to work for the government was arrested yesterday by the German authorities.
“It would not be appropriate to comment further as there is an ongoing police investigation.”
