Reporter linked to Zygier case says his home was burglarized

Fairfax Media reporter Jason Koutsoukis, who back in 2010 was the first to confront Ben Zygier, also known as "Prisoner X," with the rumors that he was a Mossad operative, told Channel 10 News Friday that his home was burglarized the day after the two spoke.

The Australian reporter said that at the time, he suspected that the Israel Security Agency was behind the break-in, but stressed that those were only his suspicions and that he had no proof of any kind to that effect.

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Koutsoukis said his supposition was only "an educated guess" adding that "in hindsight, it does look suspicious" given the proximity to his conversation with the alleged agent.

The Fairfax reporter said that when the information first crossed his desk in 2010 "The story was that Mossad was recruiting Australians to spy for them using a front company in Europe... It all seemed too good to be true." 

Katsoukis later confronted Zygier, who flatly denied the story.

"When I spoke to him he was incredulous at first and said f*** off – but what was interesting was that he did not hang up. He did soundly genuinely shocked. But he listened to what I had to say," he said.

"I still wonder why (Zygier) didn't hang up. He denied everything however. He said he hadn't visited the countries it had been claimed he had. I tried calling again but in the end he told me to buzz off." 

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