Two Russian spy suspects admit fake identities

BEIJING, July 3, 2010 (Xinhuanet) --

Two more people in the suspected Russian spy ring have admitted to using fake identities in the US. They were among the 11 arrested this week on suspicion of spying for Russia.

The suspects known as Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills were arrested in Arlington, Virginia. They’ve been living as a married couple with two children.

Prosecutors said Friday they had admitted their real names are Mikhail Kutzik and Natalia Pereverzeva.

Investigators found 100-thousand US dollars in cash and fake passports and other identity documents in safe deposit boxes.

They were charged with being foreign spies and conspiracy to money laundering.

The pair and a third defendant, Mikhail Semenko, remain in jail after giving up their right to a detention hearing.

Six other defendants have appeared in courts, and one was granted bail.

Meanwhile, Cyprus police said on Friday that the only suspect arrested outside the US, suspected paymaster Robert Christopher Metsos, has likely fled the island.

He failed to report to a police station on Wednesday as ordered by the court.

Police have ruled out escape through one of the two legal airports under monitoring. The US Embassy in Cyprus has denied media reports that it's holding Metsos.

 (Source: CNTV.cn)

Editor: Mo Hong'e

Russia spy suspect confessed, says U.S. prosecutor

NEW YORK, July 1, 2010 (Xinhua) --

A suspect in the Russia spy case has confessed after his arrest that he was a Russian agent operating under a false identity, a U.S. prosecutor said Thursday.

The suspect, a resident of Yonkers, New York, confessed that Juan Lazaro was not his true name, and that he was not Uruguayan, Attorney Preet Bharara said in a letter to Judge Ronald Ellis of a federal court in Manhattan.

But Lazaro did not reveal his true name, telling investigators that he would not violate his loyalty to Russian secret service "although he loved his son."

The suspect also confessed that his wife Vicky Pelaez, a Peruvian journalist, went to South America several times to pass intelligence to other agents, the prosecutor said in the letter.

Lazaro and Pelaez are among 11 suspects charged with gathering intelligence in the United States for Moscow, in a spy case that has made headlines and risks harming U.S.-Russian ties at a time when the two countries were making efforts to "reset" relations.

The U.S. Justice Department announced the arrest on Monday. Ten of the suspects were arrested in four eastern cities. Another suspect arrested in Cyprus on Tuesday and freed on bail, apparently went missing, prompting the U.S. prosecutor to send a letter to urge Ellis not to make the same mistake.

The ten suspects arrested in the United States appeared in three separate courts on Thursday. Ellis decided that Pelaez could be bailed on a bond of 250,000 U.S. dollars and put under house arrest.

"Vicky's case is more complicated, she does not appear to be a trained agent. She has a real identity and she is a U.S. citizen," he said.

The judge said he would decide on Lazaro's bail later. He ordered two other suspects Richard and Cynthia Murphy to be held.

Another suspect, Anna Chapman, had her bail request rejected by Ellis on Monday.

The bail hearings of the other five suspects in Boston and Virginia were postponed.

The White House said President Barack Obama knew about the FBI operation on the spy case before meeting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week.

Russian Foreign Ministry had acknowledged in a statement on Tuesday that some of the suspects involved in the spy case were Russian citizens, but denied that the suspects acted against U.S. interests.

Russia at first had said the U.S. actions were "unfounded," but later said it hoped the spy case will not harm bilateral relations and that it was ready to assist Russian nationals accused of spying.

Editor: Zhang Xiang