Cash Hoard Discovered in Home of Alleged Spy Couple
Further details have emerged regarding the cash found during a search in the home of Aleksei and Viktoria Dressen - the couple that is under investigation for espionage and will likely face charges of treason.
Public prosecutor Heili Sepp said investigators found 20,000 euros worth of cash, without stipulating the type of currency, reported Eesti Päevaleht.
Although the Dressens did not outwardly appear to live a lavish and prodigal lifestyle, Russia's FSB paid them well for supplying classified information, authorities have said.
"Dressen was paid a pretty decent sum for his work," Raivo Aeg, director of the intelligence agency KAPO, said in an interview last week. Aeg has also said that Dressen's main motive was monetary.
The Dressens are currently in detention for six months while investigators gather evidence and put together the pieces of the case.
The couple was taken into custody last Wednesday at Tallinn Airport, when Viktoria Dressen was preparing to depart for Moscow.
Officials said the counterintelligence operation had taken years, without going into details. Having worked for KAPO since 1993, Dressen had most recently been employed as a senior specialist, but had previously been a department director.
Ott Tammik