Thread by @tonyingesson

For my English-speaking intel/security people, here's a summary thread re. the GRU espionage case in Sweden that is getting significant media coverage here today:

Two brothers, Peyman Kia and Payam Kia, have today been charged with espionage on behalf of a foreign power. The exact charge is "grovt spioneri", meaning that it is a particularly serious form of espionage (in the sense that it can be assumed to have inflicted serious damage).

The older brother, Peyman, has been employed by both the Swedish Security Service (the agency responsible for counterintelligence) as well as military intelligence. According to media sources, Peyman has served in the most sensitive department in military intelligence, KSI.

The younger brother, Payam, is charged with having assisted his older sibling by handling the connections with the GRU as well as having received money and gold in payment.

As is often the case with counterintelligence investigations, this one has been years in the making. The investigation was initiated in 2017, and the brothers were arrested in September 2021. They have been detained ever since, awaiting trial.

The fact that Peyman had left the Security Service for a less sensitive position at the Swedish Food Agency probably meant that there was less time pressure to make the arrests. The head of the Swedish Food Agency was contacted in 2018 and was aware of the investigation.

I haven't read all the documentation released today yet, but it looks like a pretty solid case. Multiple computers, encryption software, USB sticks and phones have been secured, as well as evidence of transactions involving money.

There's also evidence suggesting that the brothers had made plans regarding significant monetary transactions involving cash and gold, methods for clandestinely receiving compensation, back-up plans, escape plans, etc.

Forensic analysis of a computer also shows that Peyman has photographed or duplicated classified documents in a conspiratorial manner. These documents have also been traced to printouts made by Peyman himself from the Security Service computer system.

The younger brother tried to destroy evidence by breaking apart a hard drive and throwing it away in a trash bin, but surveillance immediately detected this and the hard drive was secured.

I'm going to continue to look into this case, but from the looks of it, this could be one of the worst espionage cases in Swedish contemporary history, up there with Stig Bergling and Stig Wennerström.

On a side note, I've started reading the transcriptions of the interrogations of Peyman. It's quite chilling how he at first refuses to say anything at all, then a few days later is all charm and honestly quite persuasive in his explanations.

An interesting detail I noticed in the interrogation transcriptions: Peyman claims he had many different managers at the security service. This is a classic security problem, it's much easier to conceal suspicious activity when the manager isn't all that familiar with the staff.