Jailed, bungling brothers who botched Russia spy mission

TWO brothers who looked up how to “disappear in Sweden” and how to delete messages online were jailed for spying for Russia’s GRU intelligence agency, yesterday.

Stockholm’s district court found Peyman Kia, 42, who served in Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo and in military intelligence units, and his brother Payam, 35, guilty of “aggravated espionage” in one of Sweden’s most high-profile spying cases in decades.

The brothers, Swedish citizens of Iranian origin, had “illegally and for the benefit of Russia and the GRU, acquired, transmitted and disclosed information to a foreign power” that could harm Sweden’s security.

The court found Peyman Kia guilty of gathering 90 classified documents through his jobs. His brother was found guilty of planning the crime and managing contacts with the GRU, passing on about 45 of the classified documents.

In October 2021 – several years after Sapo first suspected a mole in its organisation

‘They illegally and for the benefit of Russia and the GRU acquired and disclosed information’

and counter-intelligence began investigating Peyman Kia – police searched his younger brother’s home.

Fearing the security services were after them, the younger brother borrowed a computer and made 28 searches including “spy”, “lawyer costs” and “helicopter finder”. The pair were arrested about a month after the search. Both denied the charges.

Peyman Kia, the elder brother, had an impressive career in the most secret unit of Sweden’s military intelligence agency. He used his position to obtain classified information, most of which he was not authorised to handle.

Despite evidence including USB sticks, laptops, hard drives and mobile phones, the court acknowledged that there was much it had not been able to ascertain. “After studying the evidence, it is clear that some pieces of the puzzle are missing and it has therefore not been possible to establish with certainty what has happened,” it wrote.

The court speculated that the brothers may have been motivated by money.

Peyman Kia was sentenced to life, while Payam Kia was sentenced to nine years and 10 months.

Much of the investigation, court hearing and yesterday’s full court ruling was considered classified information and therefore not made available to the public.