Anna Chapman Called Her Dad for Advice Before Arrest, Says Report
NEW YORK (CBS) When Anna Chapman thought that her cover as a Russian spy had been blown there was only one person she wanted to call - her ex-KGB father, Vasily Kushchenko, sources inside the investigation told The Washington Post.
Chapman reportedly became suspicious when the person she thought was a Russian counterpart called her on a Saturday to meet face-to-face. All her previous meetings had been on Wednesdays and had been conducted through encrypted private computer networks, sources told the Post.
After she met with him, a suspicious Chapman bought a new cellphone and two international calling cards. The first person she called was her father, Kushchenko, who U.S. intelligence sources say is ex-KGB, and told him that she thought her cover had been blown and about the unusual task she had been asked to perform: give a fake passport to another Russian "illegal" face-to-face.
His advice? He told her to go to the cops, sources told the Post.
According to the Post, she did just that. She brought the passport to a New York City police precinct, and told the police about her meeting. The police called the FBI who interviewed Chapman a few hours later and subsequently arrested her.
The FBI then, concerned that Chapman's call may have tipped Russia off to their undercover operations, reportedly arrested the nine other operatives they had been monitoring.
Chapman, along with those nine others,
pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to act as unregistered foreign agents as
part of a "spy swap" between the U.S. and Russia. Chapman's lawyer told
CBS News' The Early Show that although Chapman has
truthfully plead guilty to the espionage charges, her acts were very
different from the others charged with her.
Complete coverage of Anna Chapman on Crimesider.
