Tornado Alley (PROG)

[janice shell]

The shenanigans described in the DOJ document were not exactly a SPECTRE-level op. In this case, Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva apparently developed and maintained a fake persona named “Eduard Grigoriann” who, for some reason, was just itching to plop a ton of money down on a venture in Tennessee. (Grigorian is a common name from the Caucasus region, but it is almost never transliterated with a double n at the end, which was a possible tell that it was a fake.) Even more amusing, Grigoriann apparently missed a meeting with his American partners because he was on Moscow time when he was supposed to be in Paris. According to the DOJ indictment, when Grigoriann realized he was too early for the meeting, he then performed a Google search for “time in Paris.”

That is truly hilarious!!