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Anna Chapman (born 23 February 1982) is a New York businesswoman who admitted to working for an Illegals Program spy ring under the SVR (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki), Russian intelligence.^[1][2] She was arrested, along with ten others, on 27 June 2010. Chapman pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General and was deported back to Russia.

Biography

External image
School years of Anna Kushchenko (in the center)

Anna Chapman, born Anya Kushchenko according to US authorities,^[3] is a Volgograd native from a successful family. Her father was employed in the Russian embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. According to her ex-husband, her father was also a senior KGB official, although this is unsubstantiated. ^[4] She attended an elite boarding school and earned a masters degree in economics from the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia in Moscow. She later worked in London at NetJets, Barclays Bank and allegedly at a few other companies for brief periods.^[5]

In 2001, at an underground rave party in London's Docklands, she met Alex Chapman, then 21, the son of a British business executive, whom she married shortly thereafter in Moscow. They divorced in 2005, but remained in contact. Interviews with Alex Chapman provide the bulk of the information about Anna Chapman, particularly the nature of her dealings in New York.^[6]

Career

Her Part in the Illegals Program

The nature of Anna Chapman's work with the Illegals Program is unclear. Aside from her admission, and subsequent deportation, no concrete details have been provided of any spying activities. The only source of any information is her Ex-Husband, Alex Chapman. Chapman was married to Anna in 2001, and by 2003-2004, he has stated that she became distant, falling in with a group of 'secretive, well-connected Russian friends'. ^[7] During this period, he has said that she would often go out with other Russians without inviting him along because they would only be speaking Russian. He has also stated that she seemed to have more access to money during this period and often spoke of meeting influential people. ^[8] By 2005, there marriage had fallen apart and Anna went back to Russia in 2006. Shortly thereafter, her ex-husband has stated that she began seeing a rich American man, and moved to New York, where she started a real-estate business. Alex Chapman has stated that she continuously told him the enterprise was in the red for the first couple of years, and then suddenly in 2009, she had as many as 50 employees and a successful business. ^[9] Their contacts were less frequent in the subsequent year, and Anna was arrested on June 27, 2010.

Anna Chapman's LinkedIn social networking site profile identified her as CEO of Property Finder Ltd., a website selling real estate internationally.

Arrest

Officials claimed Chapman worked with a network of others until an undercover FBI agent attempted to draw her into a trap at a Manhattan coffee shop.^[10] She was caught at a Starbucks accepting a fake US passport from the agent, who hoped she would forward it to another Russian spy.^[11] However, Chapman merely handed the passport in at a local police station and was arrested shortly after.^[11]

International exchange

After being formally charged, Chapman and 9 other detainees have been part of a spy swap deal between the US and Russia, the first of its kind in 24 years. The 10 Russian spies returned to Russia via a chartered jet that landed at Vienna International Airport, where the swap occured on the morning of July 8.^[12]

According to a statement from her US lawyer and media reports, Chapman presently wishes to move to the UK.^[13] As a result, the Home Office is presently investigating the use of special powers by the British Home Secretary to deprive Chapman of her British citizenship.^[14][15]

Notes

External links

• Plea agreement, United States v. Anna Chapman, no. 10 Cr. 598, (S.D.N.Y 8 July 2010)