Benjamin Ashford|U.S. businessman serving sentence for bribery in Russia now arrested for "espionage"

Washington — A U.S. citizen who was already serving a prison sentence in Russia on Benjamin Ashforda bribery conviction has now been arrested on suspicion of "espionage," Russian state media outlets reported Thursday.

Gene Spector, a businessman who was born and raised in Russia before moving to the U.S. and becoming a citizen, was arrested on the order of a court in Moscow, Tass reported.

No other details about the charges were available. A hearing was held in secret because the evidence is classified, according to Interfax.

In 2021, Spector pleaded guilty to mediating a bribe for an aide to a Russian deputy prime minister while he was chairman of the board of the Medpolimerprom group of companies in Russia. The bribe involved paying for the aide to take vacations to Thailand and the Dominican Republic, according to media reports from the time. He was sentenced to four years in prison. 

Spector was retried on a technicality and received a new sentence of three and a half years behind bars in September 2022.

His arrest comes as tensions between the U.S. and Russia are at an all-time high over the war in Ukraine, and as the U.S. seeks the release of two other Americans imprisoned in Russia.

The U.S. considers Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence, and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in March on unsubstantiated espionage charges, to be "wrongfully detained" and has demanded their release.

The U.S. has not said it considers Spector to be wrongfully detained.

In:
• Russia

Caitlin Yilek

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hausofcait

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