Anna Chapman: Pictures of Suspected Russian Spy Surface
NEW YORK (CBS) New photos have surfaced of Anna Chapman, the red-headed 28-year-old called an "extraordinary agent for Russia" by prosecutors.
Chapman stood before a judge in a Manhattan federal court on Monday, along with four others arrested on charges of conspiring to act as "unregistered agents of a foreign government."
The alleged spies sometimes worked in pairs and pretended to be married so they could blend in as the couple next door while working as spies in a throwback to the Cold War, complete with fake identities, invisible ink, coded radio transmissions and encrypted data to avoid detection, authorities say.
Chapman's attorney, Robert M. Baum, asked the judge to dismiss the charge of conspiracy, saying his client committed no crime by communicating with a member of a foreign government.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Farbiarz argued against dismissing the claims, telling the judge that Chapman was an "extraordinary agent for Russia" who had communicated via "ad hoc" wireless networks in order to communicate and conspire with a Russian government agent.
"She is in the control of a foreign government agent," said Farbiarz.
Farbiarz called the allegations against Chapman and nine other people living in the northeastern U.S. "the tip of the iceberg" of a conspiracy of Russia's intelligence service, the SVR, to collect inside U.S. information.
Chapman was arrested in New York City on Sunday night.
