![]() In any event, the FBI used Toebbe's outreach as the launching pad for a months long undercover operation in which an agent posing as a representative of a foreign contact made contact with Toebbe and agreed to pay thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency for the information that Toebbe was offering.Īfter weeks of back and forth over email, the undercover agent in June sent Toebbe about $10,000 in cryptocurrency, describing it as a sign of good faith and trust, the FBI says. The court documents don't explain how the FBI came to receive the package or from whom. That package, which had a return address in Pittsburgh, was obtained by the FBI last December through its legal attache office in the unspecified foreign country. I believe this information will be of great value to your nation. Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency. The FBI says the scheme began in April 2020 when Jonathan Toebbe sent a package of Navy documents to a foreign government and wrote that he was interested in selling to that country operations manuals, performance reports and other sensitive information.Īuthorities say he also provided instructions for how to conduct the furtive relationship, with a letter that said: “I apologize for this poor translation into your language. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Toebbes, who are from Annapolis, Maryland, have lawyers. Toebbe (42) was arrested in West Virginia on Saturday along with his wife, Diana (45) after he had placed a removable memory card at a prearranged “dead drop” in the state, according to the Justice Department. That country was not named in the court documents. ![]() In a criminal complaint detailing espionage-related charges against Jonathan Toebbe, the government said he sold information for nearly the past year to a contact he believed represented a foreign power. Toebbe, who as part of his job had a top-secret security clearance, agreed as part of the plea deal to help federal officials with locating all classified information in his possession, as well as the roughly $100,000 in cryptocurrency that was paid to him by the FBI.įBI agents who searched the couple’s Annapolis, Maryland, home found a trash bag of shredded documents, thousands of dollars in cash, valid children’s passports and a “go-bag” containing a USB flash drive and latex gloves.A Navy nuclear engineer with access to military secrets has been charged with trying to pass information about the design of American nuclear-powered submarines to someone he thought was a representative of a foreign government but who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent, the Justice Department said Sunday. The country to which Jonathan Toebbe was looking to sell the information has not been identified in court documents and was not disclosed in court during the plea hearing Monday. She has pleaded not guilty and the case against her remains pending. Naval nuclear engineer, wife arrested on espionage charges previously taught school in Denverĭiana Toebbe was accused of serving as a lookout at several prearranged “dead-drop” locations at which her husband deposited memory cards containing government secrets, concealing them in objects such as a chewing gum wrapper and a peanut butter sandwich. ![]() That set off a monthslong undercover operation in which an agent posing as a representative of a foreign country made contact with Toebbe and agreed to pay thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency for the information Toebbe was offering. That package was obtained by the FBI last December through its legal attaché office in the unspecified foreign country. The FBI has said the scheme began in April 2020, when Jonathan Toebbe sent a package of Navy documents to a foreign government and wrote that he was interested in selling to that country operations manuals, performance reports and other sensitive information. Jonathan Toebbe taught at Kent Denver, a private prep school in Englewood, from 2005 to 2008, and Diana Toebbe taught there from 2005 to 2012, according to a school spokeswoman. “Yes, your honor,” Toebbe said when asked if he considered himself guilty. Toebbe acknowledged during the plea hearing to conspiring to pass classified information to a foreign government in exchange for money with the intent to “injure the United States.” The person Toebbe thought was a representative of a foreign government was actually an undercover FBI agent. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
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