Entrepreneur under suspicion

Two Italians alleged to have spied for Russia

Police in Italy (symbolic image)

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/ tsuguliev)

Two Italian entrepreneurs are suspected of having collaborated with Russian intelligence services in Milan. They are said to have supplied sensitive data, secret documents, photos of military facilities and information in the field of electronic security in return for cryptocurrencies.

The suspects are two Lombard entrepreneurs, aged 34 and 60, who allegedly maintained contacts with Russian intelligence services. These are said to have originated on the deep web and then continued via Telegram.

Entrepreneurs are on Russia's side
The entrepreneurs acted not only for financial reasons, but also for ideological reasons, because they sided with Russia in the Ukraine conflict and were against "Western policy".

The investigations are based on the results of a complex investigation carried out in Milan in collaboration with the cryptocurrency department of the Carabinieri anti-counterfeiting squad in Rome. The Italian counterintelligence service AISE was also involved in the investigation.

Dashcams should spy on cities
Among other things, the two entrepreneurs are said to have proposed a "business plan" to Milan's cab cooperatives that provided for the free installation of "dashcams", small video cameras for security purposes. And this with the prospect of providing the Russian secret service with images of entire city areas without the cab drivers' knowledge. For the investigators, this is the most concrete evidence of a far-reaching "espionage" activity.