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Russian "Spy" Babe's Ex: Her Dad Was Ex-KGB!
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 2, 2010
Modified Jul 2, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 2, 2010
Modified Jul 2, 2010
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The British ex-husband of a NYC party girl who is accused of being a spy told the Daily Telegraph that he was interviewed by the British intelligence service MI5. Alex Chapman, a psychologist-in-training, said of ex-wife Anna, "When I saw that she had been arrested on suspicion of spying it didn’t come as much of a surprise to be honest. Towards the end of our marriage she became very secretive, going for meetings on her own with 'Russian friends’, and I guess it might have been because she was in contact with the Russian government."
However, he also said, "The [MI5] officer told me she would need everything and I told her what I knew. It’s just totally weird to think that my ex-wife could be involved in something like this."Chapman met Anna Kushchenko in a London nightclub and they married in Moscow in 2002. The Telegraph reports, "They divorced in 2006 but have remained in touch ever since." Chapman said, "Anna told me her father had been high up in the ranks of the KGB. She said he had been an agent in 'old Russia.' Her father controlled everything in her life, and I felt she would have done anything for her dad." And her dad was apparently intimidating:
“He didn’t trust anyone. He asked me why I had chosen a Russian bride and asked what business I had in Russia, and I said none.
“He was scary. He would never introduce me to other Russian people who came to the house and he always seemed to have a lot more security than the other diplomats. He had a Land Rover with blacked out windows and there was always one car in front of it and one car behind."
Intriguingly, Chapman also says his ex "always disliked Americans, complaining about their accent, but suddenly decided in 2007 that she was desperate to go there to exploit 'business opportunities.'" He explained, "She had met a rich American man who had taken her to the States and when she came back she said she loved it." Of course, in America, "anything can happen." And in New York, it's where concrete dreams are made (of).
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Alex Chapman
anna chapman
espionage
MI5
russia
spies
spy
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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