India Today, 23 June 2010: THE NAVY is in the process of taking action against disgraced Commodore Sukhjinder Singh leading to his possible dismissal. The board of inquiry that undertook the investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him has concluded its probe. . . .
. . . He was posted as the head of the Indian observation group at Russia’s 1059 Military Station in Severodvinsk, a port city in the north- western part of the country. He was there as the main supervising officer for the refit and refurbishment of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov-now renamed INS Vikramaditya-that was bought by India.
Singh’s pictures with a Russian woman in compromising positions were provided to the naval intelligence and leaked to the media in mid-April. The navy faced great embarrassment on account of his “loose moral behaviour.” There were also suspicions that he could have influenced the price negotiations of the Russian aircraft carrier, whose price shot up to $ 2.34 billion (Rs 10,000 crore) from an original price of about $ 1 billion (Rs 4,600 crore). . . .
. . . It is widely believed that he was honey trapped by women agents of Russian intelligence agencies. They could have indulged in sexual activities with him and taken pictures to blackmail him. . . .
Times of India, 16 May 2010: From Mata Hari to Madhuri Gupta, history has been witness to women using sex as a bait. Did you know that men have been great honey traps too? We uncover some historic facts:
Even though ex-diplomat Madhuri Gupta’s name will go down in history as India’s deadliest female spy, the plump, middle-aged, bespectacled single lady demolishes all romantic notions of a spy — a sexy woman in black, crimson lips, kohl-rimmed eyes, holding a cigarette in her bejewelled fingers. Madhuri Gupta also shatters the belief that it’s mostly men who fall for the ‘honey trap’. Investigations have revealed that Madhuri had an amorous affair with her Pakistani handler, with whom she shared information. That makes her a lady who’s been honey trapped, a rare case. “In the spy world, exploiting the amorous arts to dig up secret information is usually a woman’s domain,” says a senior IPS officer, who requests anonymity. “The trade name for this exercise is ‘honey trap’, a tactic which has seen the downfall of many mighty men who make the mistake of falling into the mesh of warm desires stirred by lady spies.”
From Mata Hari to Madhuri Gupta, it’s strongly believed that woman spies are used in honey traps because they are better than their male counterparts at gaining access to secret information. Not to forget that they are also masters in the game of passion and seduction. A senior doctor at the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science, New Delhi, under condition of anonymity, says, “Women make better spies than men, because they are naturally gifted with strong intuitive powers. The world has seen several women spies. Delicate cases which require cunning, skill and tact are usually entrusted to women.” . . . .
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 140–Women in Espionage: Intrigue, Myths and Truths
Times of London, 28 March 2010: THE video shows Mikhail Fishman, editor of the Russian edition of Newsweek magazine, sitting on a sofa in T-shirt and jeans, next to a young woman wearing only a shirt. Caught by two hidden cameras, Fishman leans over a stool where he cuts what appears to be a line of cocaine, then snorts it. He leans back on the sofa, smiling at the girl, then moves towards her. The grainy film cuts to a scene in which Fishman, 37, walks naked to the sofa, his clothes strewn around. He puts on his underpants before taking another snort. In separate sequences, also filmed surreptitiously, Fishman and two opposition activists appear to be offering to bribe a traffic policeman.
The editor, who denies bribery, was advised not to comment on the sex and drugs allegations after the film was posted on the internet last week. “I’ve no doubt that the security services played a role in this,” he said. “This was a well planned operation. I was followed and set up. I don’t yet know who exactly is behind it but clearly it’s an attempt to force us to change our editorial policy. It’s a signal to all independent journalists to keep a low profile.” Fishman, who is married, was the latest victim of what Russia’s beleaguered opposition believes is a burgeoning smear campaign against critics of the Kremlin.
Ilya Yashin, an opposition activist, recognised the woman in the Fishman video. He had been lured to the same flat. “I was there,” Yashin wrote in his blog. “Her name is Katya Gerasimova, nicknamed Moomoo, and she works in a modelling agency.”
Yashin, 27 and single, said the girl had made contact on a social networking site, flirted and invited him on a date — the same tactics she is thought to have used with Fishman. “I met two fun girls, Katya and Nastya, who said they were students moonlighting as models,” Yashin explained. “Katya impressed me, and we dated. One night she called and asked me to come to her apartment right away. She said she had a surprise for me. The surprise was Nastya and both of them dragged me into bed as soon as I came through the door. I’d be lying if I said I resisted. Everything was fine until Katya produced a whole pile of sex toys…Call it instinct but I felt there was something fishy about the whole scene.”. . . . .
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 191–Russia’s SVR/FSB/GRU Intelligence: An Introduction to Today’s Russian Intelligence and Counterintelligence Operations and Methodologies
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 203–Vulnerabilities of Global Travel: Personnel and Information Protection
Foreign Policy, 12 March 2010: MI5 is worried about sex. In a 14-page document distributed last year to hundreds of British banks, businesses, and financial institutions, titled “The Threat from Chinese Espionage,” the famed British security service described a wide-ranging Chinese effort to blackmail Western businesspeople over sexual relationships. The document, as the London Times reported in January, explicitly warns that Chinese intelligence services are trying to cultivate “long-term relationships” and have been known to “exploit vulnerabilities such as sexual relationships … to pressurise individuals to co-operate with them.”
This latest report on Chinese corporate espionage tactics is only the most recent installment in a long and sordid history of spies and sex. For millennia, spymasters of all sorts have trained their spies to use the amorous arts to obtain secret information.
The trade name for this type of spying is the “honey trap.” And it turns out that both men and women are equally adept at setting one — and equally vulnerable to tumbling in. Spies use sex, intelligence, and the thrill of a secret life as bait. Cleverness, training, character, and patriotism are often no defense against a well-set honey trap. And as in normal life, no planning can take into account that a romance begun in deceit might actually turn into a genuine, passionate affair. In fact, when an East German honey trap was exposed in 1997, one of the women involved refused to believe she had been deceived, even when presented with the evidence. “No, that’s not true,” she insisted. “He really loved me.”
Those who aim to perfect the art of the honey trap in the future, as well as those who seek to insulate themselves, would do well to learn from honey trap history. . . . .
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 140–Women in Espionage: Intrigue, Myths and Truths
Belfast Telegraph, 18 Dec 09: Dissident republicans are planning to use honey traps this Christmas in a bid to lure a member of the security forces to his death, it has emerged.
During a recent security briefing Army personnel were warned about the recruitment by dissidents of attractive females to identify soldiers at popular nightspots and lure them into ambushes.
Military personnel have been advised not to attend certain bars and clubs over the holidays. If they do attend the nightspots they have been warned to be on their guard for any possible traps.
A security source told the Belfast Telegraph: “We have been told that ‘honeys’ may be used by dissidents to identify soldiers. “The English accents and haircuts can give soldiers away but these ‘honeys’ will be used to lure soldiers into a trap. A lot of soldiers will be out over the holiday period so there is particular concern at the minute about this.”
The source added that all military personnel were recently warned that the terrorist threat against them has been upped yet again.
The use of honey traps is not a new terrorist tactic. It was a popular method used by the Provisional IRA during the Troubles. One of the most famous ‘honeys’ was IRA spy Rosena Brown, who allegedly used her charms to befriend senior prison officer John Christopher Hanna, who became infatuated by her and passed information about a colleague who was murdered by the IRA. . . . . .
