An Estonian scientist working at a @NATO research institution focusing on maritime and submarine research has been found to have been recruited by Chinese military intelligence to conduct spy work. news.yahoo.com/top-nato-scien…
The spy, Tarmo Kõuts, renowned in the Estonian scientific community for his research, was convicted last week and sentenced to three years in prison. Estonia’s intelligence services had warned for years of the growing Chinese threat, but the conviction was the first of its kind.
"According to Aleksander Toots, the deputy director of KAPO and Tallinn’s top counterintelligence official, Kõuts was recruited in 2018 by #China’s Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission...
... as Beijing’s military intelligence agency is known—along with an alleged accomplice who is yet to be tried in court."
"Kõuts pleaded guilty to conducting intelligence activities against the Republic of Estonia on behalf of a foreign state. The charges were one stop short of treason. He was sentenced to three years in prison."
"Kõuts was recruited on Chinese territory, said Toots, who spoke exclusively with The Daily Beast and Estonia’s Delfi newspaper: 'He was motivated by traditional human weaknesses, such as money and need of recognition.'"
"Toots added that Kõuts received cash payments from his Chinese handlers as well as paid trips to various Asian countries, with luxury accommodations and dinners at Michelin star restaurants."
"The intelligence operatives handling him were operating under cover of a think tank. Inna Ombler, the prosecutor handling the case confirmed that Kõuts earned €17,000 -- a little over $20,000 -- for his espionage, which the Estonian government has since seized from him."
"Kõuts’s public Facebook account shows he checked-in at Lerici, Italy— from La Spezia—in April 2018, the year of his recruitment by China. His role at the NATO center gave Kõuts direct access to Estonia’s and NATO’s confidential military intelligence."
"At the time of his arrest, he had a state secret permit as well as NATO security clearance dating back fourteen years. In the three years Kõuts worked for Chinese military intelligence, confined his espionage to observations and anecdotes about his top-level work but did not,...
... according to Toots, yet pass on any confidential military information."
“That he had such security clearances was one of the reasons we decided to put a stop to his collaboration [with the Chinese] so early,” Toots said.
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