David Smith is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
A security guard at the British embassy in Berlin suspected of spying for Russia is due to appear in court on Thursday (7 April) after being extradited from Germany.
David Smith was arrested by German police on 10 August last year and is accused of collecting information from the embassy intending to pass it to a foreign state, the Met said in a statement on Wednesday.
The 57-year-old faces nine charges. One charge claims Smith passed information to a person he believed was a representative of the Russian state, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
Smith is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for offences allegedly committed between October 2020 and August 2021.
Smith, who was employed as a security guard at the British Embassy was extradited back to the UK on 6 April following his arrest by German police.
“David Smith has been charged with nine offences contrary to the Official Secrets Act,” said Nick Price, Head of Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division at the CPS.
“He is accused of seven offences of collecting information with the intent of sending it to the Russian authorities, one of attempting communication and one of providing information to a person he believed was a member of the Russian authorities.
“After reviewing the case and authorising charges, we obtained an extradition warrant and worked closely with our German counterparts in order to bring Mr Smith back to the UK.”
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