Accused Russian spy loses bid to have US charges dismissed
A Russian citizen accused by US authorities of posing as a banker in New York in order to spy for his government lost a bid to have the case against him dismissed on Wednesday.
US District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan rejected Evgeny Buryakov's request to have the charges thrown out, saying the government's allegations were adequate to support the indictment.
Buryakov and two other Russians were charged in February with conspiring to gather economic information on behalf of Russia's foreign intelligence service known as the SVR.
Buryakov worked at the New York branch of state-owned Vnesheconombank or VEB but prosecutors claim he was secretly engaged in covert work for the SVR.
The indictment alleges he was trying to gather intelligence on potential U.S. sanctions against Russia and U.S. efforts in the field of alternative energy.
