According to London police, a security guard at the British Embassy in Berlin who is accused of espionage for Russia has been deported from Germany and will appear in a British court.
David Smith, 57, was apprehended by German authorities in August 2021, with his alleged crimes occurring between October 2020 and then.
After being monitored by MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence service, he was held in Potsdam.
Authorities from the United Kingdom and Germany conducted a joint investigation and investigated his home and business.
One of the nine counts he faces, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), is that he passed on information obtained from the British Embassy to a person he believed to be a Russian state representative.
Smith, who was flown from Germany today, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. Nick Price, head of special crime and counter-terrorism division at the CPS, said: “David Smith has been charged with nine offences contrary to the Official Secrets Act.
“He is charged with seven counts of gathering material with the goal of delivering it to Russian officials, one count of attempting communication, and one count of supplying information to a person he believed to be a Russian official.”
“We obtained an extradition warrant and worked closely with our German counterparts to bring Mr Smith back to the UK after examining the case and authorizing charges.”