The Russian authorities proceeded with the arrest and pretrial detention of an American citizen for espionage.

It’s about him Gene Spectorchairman of the board of directors of the Russian group Medpolymerprom. who, according to Interfax, he pleaded guilty and entered into a cooperation agreement with the investigators investigating the case.

According to Reuters, Spector faces up to 20 years in prison.

RIA Novosti emphasizes that the case has been classified and therefore no details have been released.

Who is Gene Spector?

Spector was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia and immigrated to the US where he became an American citizen. He then returned to Russia as a businessman.

In 2022, Gene Spector was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for the case of financing an associate of the former vice president of the Russian government, Arkady Dvorkovich. He was previously convicted in 2021, which was overturned at the appeals court and the case was re-examined in July 2022.

In recent years, several American citizens have been arrested in Russia and given heavy sentences. Washington had accused Moscow of seeking to exchange them for Russians held in United States prisons.

In December 2022, American basketball player Brittney Greiner, who was convicted in Russia of drug trafficking, was released in exchange for the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Butt from the United States.

American journalist Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal was arrested in March while reporting in Yekaterinburg, Russia. He is accused of espionage, but he himself insists that he is innocent.