Estonian Defense Ministry official Herman Simm exposed as Russian spy

In September 2008 Herman Simm, a former head of security at the Estonian defence ministry, was arrested as Russian spy.

Investigators said Mr Simm, who used to be Estonia's police chief, had been working for the Russian Foreign intelligence service (SVR) since 1995, when he joined the Estonian defence ministry. He became head of security at the ministry in 2000, handling classified information regarding Nato's communications and surveillance systems.

In 2001–2006, Simm regularly traveled abroad to negotiate agreements on the protection of classified information with member countries of NATO and the European Union. Herman Simm also participated in the development of intelligence security with NATO and the EU, where he invited other states to check their security systems. In June 2003, he was issued a diplomatic passport, provided to carriers transporting classified information. In November 2006, Herman Simm resigned from the post of head of the state secret protection department, but continued to work as adviser of the Minister of Defence, retaining access to classified information.

The investigators added Mr Simm met his SVR handlers, named as Valery Zemtsov and Sergei Yakovlev, three or four times a year in different European countries. An international arrest warrant had been issued for the latter, who is also known under a fake Portuguese identity as Antonio de Jesus Amorett Graf.

On February 25 2009 Simm pleaded guilty to treason. The court where he was tried did not reveal which country he spied for, but investigators said Mr Simm passed nearly 3,000 documents to Russia. They said he received 1.3m kroons (£73,000; $106,000) for the data. The Kremlin denied any involvement.

Mr Simm, who co-operated with the investigation, has been ordered to pay 20.2m kroons in damages to the Estonian defence ministry. Simm was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison.

Agentura.Ru, March 15, 2011