Navy engineer, woman arrested for trying to sell confidential information

A Navy nuclear engineer and his wife from Maryland have been arrested for attempting to sell confidential information about US nuclear submarines to a foreign country, using memory cards hidden in a peanut butter sandwich and packaging bandage to pass on the secrets, according to court documents.

Jonathan Toebbe, who worked in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and had a top-secret security clearance, and his wife, Diana, were arrested Saturday in Jefferson County, W.Va. on charges by the FBI of violating the atomic energy law, the Justice Department said on Sunday.

Toebbe, 42, “has transmitted and continues to transmit restricted data as defined by the atomic energy law … with the voluntary help of his wife,” according to the criminal complaint.

The espionage investigation began in December 2020 when an FBI official received a package sent to a foreign country containing Navy documents, the desire to start a “secret relationship” and instructions on how to use it. of “encrypted communications”.

“Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency. I believe this information will be of great value to your nation. This is not a hoax, ”said a note inside the package with PIttsburgh’s return address.

After verifying the validity of the confidential information, FBI agents posing as spies from the unidentified foreign country began to email Toebbe.

They initially contacted in late December 2020 to confirm they wanted to work with him and would contact him to find out how to proceed, authorities said.

After several email exchanges, Toebbe reportedly wrote in March 2021 that he would provide the documents in exchange for cryptocurrency payments.

FBI agents agreed to pay him $ 10,000 upfront and $ 20,000 more after the information he provided was verified, and they found a “dead drop” in Jefferson County for June. .

Toebbe and his wife were seen at the scene of the “dead drop”, with Diana, 45, “lookout” for her husband, according to the complaint.

Subsequently, the FBI recovered an SD card that was “wrapped in plastic and placed between two slices of bread on half of a peanut butter sandwich.” The half-sandwich was housed inside a plastic bag, ”says the complaint.

Another “dead drop” was organized for July 31 in Pennsylvania.

This time, the SD card “was hidden in a Band-Aid package sealed with Band-Aid inside a transparent Zip Lock bag,” the court documents say.

In another “fall” in Virginia in August, FBI agents allege Toebbe put an SD card in a packet of chewing gum.

All flashcards contained information about the designs of the Virginia-class nuclear submarines.

The couple were broken up on Saturday when they showed up at another dead drop location in West Virginia.

They are scheduled to appear in federal court in Martinsburg, Va. On Tuesday.

We do not know who represents the husband and wife.