MOSCOW.– a citizens US of Russian origin who was already in prison in Russia on a bribery conviction now faces espionage charges, according to Russian news agencies.
A Moscow court on Thursday authorized the arrest of Gene Spector on these charges, the reports said, offering no details of the case against him.
Spector, a former executive at a medical equipment company in Russia, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison last September for allowing bribes to an adviser to former Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. The aide, Anastasia Alekseyeva, was sentenced to 12 years in April for taking two expensive vacations abroad as a bribe.
Dvorkovich was deputy prime minister with Dmitry Medvedev between 2012 and 2018. In addition, he chairs the board of directors of the Russian state railways and the international chess federation FIDE.
The United States did not immediately comment on the report.
