The U.S. Department of Justice has denounced Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, a Russian national, of being an »illegal agent» of the Russian Intelligence Service in his country under a false identity, pretending to be a Brazilian citizen.
Cherkasov, who is currently serving time in Brazil for fraud, allegedly began acting as a Russian »illegal agent» in Brazil in 2012, under the alias ‘Victor Muller Ferreira’ and a false identity, to move to the United States in 2018 to study a graduate program at a university in the District of Columbia.
He is also charged with bank fraud, visa fraud, wire fraud and other charges related to his stay in the North American country.
According to the Justice Department, Cherkasov used his university contacts to obtain information about U.S. foreign policy, and had contacts with Russian Intelligence Service agents in 2021 and 2022.
In 2022 he tried to obtain a job at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but when rejected he returned to Brazil, where he was eventually arrested for bank fraud in connection with his use of a false identity.
U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, in charge of the case, has assured in a Justice Department statement that »when foreign adversaries, such as Russia, send covert operatives into the United States, we will uncover them and pursue them to the fullest extent of the law.»
»These adversaries seek to operate covertly to undermine our national security in ways that could harm the safety of our citizens, he added. »Working with our partners in the FBI, we will root out anyone who seeks to harm the United States and bring them to justice.»
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
