The accused American spy held in Russia has a criminal background

and has had financial crimes in his past. Putin may have dirt on him the Wash. Post reports.

"The Marine Corps found Paul Whelan, the American citizen detained by Russia on espionage charges, guilty of attempting to steal more than $10,000 worth of currency from the U.S. government while deployed to Iraq in 2006 and bouncing nearly $6,000 worth of checks around the same time, according to records obtained by The Washington Post."

"Whelan’s financial problems potentially would have made him a prime target for Russian intelligence services."

"All intelligence services routinely look for people in financial distress who they might recruit or blackmail. An active duty Marine traveling in Russia would have quickly caught the attention of Russian intelligence services, said Dan Hoffman, a former CIA officer who served as the chief of station in Moscow".

"Whelan’s family has maintained he is innocent, and that the Michigan resident and former policeman was in Moscow for a friend’s wedding when he was arrested by members of Russia’s security services in an upscale hotel not far from the Kremlin."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/four-countries-now-have-links-to-american-detained-in-russia-as-international-spillover-widens/2019/01/04/25d93b2e-1029-11e9-8f0c-6f878a26288a_story.html