This led them to a number of individuals, the most impressive being a man in his sixties with grey hair known to the intelligence community. His name was Herman Simm, a high official with the Estonian Ministry of Defense.
For at least ten years he had been senior enough to read secret documents about European Union countries and their espionage operations. Even worse, Estonia had joined NATO in 2004. That meant, during two years before Suares and Simm were discovered, Simm had access to secret information about military plans directed against Russia and its allies. Among these were crucial plans for the first western cyber defense installation, which was located in Estonia itself.
For some time, before Simm was identified, it was suspected that Russian spy agencies had someone high enough to read classified information. They had known in advance about plans for the wars in Afghanistan and Kosovo, the proposed anti-missile shield to be located near Russia's borders, NATO encryption codes, western attitudes toward the attack on Georgia in the summer of 2008 and western defenses against cyber-attack.
Simm was still using an old shortwave radio using illegal frequencies when he and his wife were arrested by the Estonian police in September 2008. He claimed he was blackmailed by Russians who were going to use the fact that he worked for the KGB, yet he had recieved huge amounts of money for his treachery. He and his wife Heete owned many sumptuous properties throughout Estonia.
Simm had also been fired from his job as Director General of Estonia's police board in 1999 so it was suggested that what motivated him was greed and revenge.
It was also suggested that he was a double agent for the German secret service as well.
This is all for now, more to come…
What hadn't been mentioned in the book was that he had been fired from his job as director general of the police board in 1995.
After that he got a job immediately in the Defense ministry policy department.
In 2001 he headed up the newly minted state secrets protection department. He was able to visit other members of the European Union and NATO and advise them on secrets protection and was given a red diplomatic passport.
Simm and wife Heete were arrested on September 21, 2008 by the Estonian police.
On February 25, 2009 Simm pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison and fined 1.288 euros damages.
Adu Raudkivi
