FBI arrests nuclear engineer for selling classified information for cryptocurrencies – Bits Media

In West Virginia, FBI agents arrested a nuclear energy engineer and his wife on charges of espionage and selling classified information for cryptocurrency..

According to a statement from Attorney General Merrick Garland (Merric B. Garland), Jonathan and Diana Tobbe (Jonathan, Diana Toebbe) were going to sell classified information to a representative of a foreign state. The engineer planned to receive cryptocurrencies for an SD card with data on US nuclear-powered ships, however, the buyer turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.

“The suspect is accused of conspiring to transmit information about our nuclear submarines to a foreign country.”, – the prosecutor emphasized.

Jonathan Tobbe worked as a nuclear engineer in the marine nuclear propulsion program. He also had a valid security clearance from the US Department of Defense. IN 2020 year, the FBI began to suspect the engineer after, how a package was discovered with a small set of “test” data and instructions about how to, how to buy more detailed information about American nuclear submarines.

In June of this year, an undercover FBI agent listed Tobbe $10 000 in cryptocurrencies as an advance payment. After that the engineer, together with his wife, made a “bookmark” with an SD card, where another piece of data was stored. The FBI paid for it $20 000. There was another one, larger batch of information, which cost the operatives already $70 000 In cryptocurrencies. After this, the engineer and his wife were arrested.

Recall, that in August the Swedish police returned bitcoins worth $1.5 million, since due to the growth of BTC, the price of seized crypto assets exceeded the value of illegally obtained funds.