An Ethiopian-born US contractor who worked for the State and Justice departments was apprehended and accused with transmitting confidential information to Ethiopia.
The 50-year-old Abraham Teklu Lemma is charged with providing a member of Ethiopia’s intelligence service with classified information since last August, according to the Justice Department.
The New York Times and other US media outlets identified the African nation he is accused of spying for as Ethiopia, but the department did not name it.
He is accused of three offenses, including unauthorized possessing national defense information as well as gathering or providing defense information to assist a foreign government and willfully retaining it.
Mr Abraham, whose arrest last month was kept under seal until Thursday, is a naturalised US citizen of Ethiopian descent living in Silver Spring, Maryland.
He held jobs as a management analyst for the Department of Justice and an IT administrator for the Department of State. The suspect had been given access to US classified systems and top secret security clearance.
If found guilty of espionage, he could face the death penalty.
Source-BBC
