Alexey Karetnikov, 23, was deported to Russia on Tuesday after admitting “he was present in the United States in violation of immigration law and voluntarily agreed to deportation in lieu of further court proceedings,” according to Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security…..
The curious case of the Russian spies grows, well, curiouser, as the Washington Post reports that a Microsoft Software Design Engineer named Alexey Karetnikov has recently been ordered out of the country for “immigration violations.” According to a government source, Karetnikov had “just set up shop,” (spy shop, that is) and the immigration charges were technicalities used to get him out of the country quickly (and without an annoying trial).
According to federal law enforcement officials, Karetnikov had been living in the Seattle area since he entered the U.S. in October 2009. A listing for Karetnikov was found under an address in Redmond.
Microsoft confirms Karetnikov worked as an entry-level software tester for less than a year. The company would not elaborate on its former employee’s duties, or exactly when he started work at Microsoft.
A Redmond apartment manager who only wished to be identified as “Lizzy” said Karetnikov was a former tenant in her building. She said she’d seen a surge in police activity in the area in recent months.
Alexey Karetnikov was working for Microsoft as a software tester. The US Department of Homeland Security stated that Karetnikov did not have access to any sensitive information; he was detained on immigration charges, since the DHS had no evidence that Karetnikov had successfully performed any espionage.
No criminal charges were filed against Karetnikov due to insufficient evidence; however, a law enforcement official told ABC News the man’s name surfaced during the probe.
We just hope that Alexey followed our advice for managing Facebook privacy settings it would be terribly ironic if he was exposed to the world through his naive use of the social networking sites.
Resources :seattlepi.com,engadget.com
