WASHINGTON -- Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine arrested in Russia on espionage charges, was visiting Moscow over the holidays to attend a wedding when he suddenly disappeared, his twin brother said Tuesday.
Whelan, 48, who is head of global security for a Michigan-based auto parts supplier, was arrested Friday. In announcing the arrest three days later, the Russian Federal Security Service said he was caught "during an espionage operation," but it gave no details.
"We are deeply concerned for his safety and well-being," his family said in a statement that his brother David Whelan posted on Twitter. "His innocence is undoubted and we trust that his rights will be respected."
"It is inconceivable to me that he would have done anything to break the law in Russia," David Whelan told The Washington Post.
By Russian law, foreigners found guilty of spying on Russia face between 10 and 20 years in jail.
David Whelan said in an interview that his brother had been to Russia several times previously, so when a fellow former Marine was planning a wedding in Moscow with a Russian woman, he was asked to go along to help out.
The morning of his arrest, he had taken a group of wedding guests on a tour of the Kremlin museums. The last time anyone heard from him was at about 5 p.m., and then he failed to show up that evening for the wedding, his brother said. "It was extraordinarily out of character," he said.
The family feared he had been mugged or was in a car accident, David Whelan said, and it was when searching the Internet on Monday that he learned of the arrest. "I was looking for any stories about dead Americans in Moscow, so in a way it was better than finding out that he had died," he said.
The State Department said on Monday that it had received formal notification from the Russian Foreign Ministry of the arrest and was pushing for consular access. David Whelan said the family was told by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow they have not been able to speak to Paul Whelan.
A member of the U.S. government should have visited Whelan in detention by now, according to Russia's obligations under the Vienna Convention, which dictates that consular access must be provided within a 72-hour window from the time of arrest.
But the U.S. government shutdown may have hindered this process, said a person familiar with Whelan's case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Although U.S. embassies are not closed during the shutdown, they are working with reduced staff. The person added that it could take months before the case is resolved.
David Whelan said he has no idea why his brother was targeted by the Russian security services. Paul Whelan had traveled to Russia in the past for work and to visit friends he had met on social networks, his brother said.
Paul Whelan did multiple tours in Iraq with the Marine Corps, his brother said. He now lives in Novi, Mich., and is director of global security for BorgWarner, where he has worked since early 2017. "He is responsible for overseeing security at our facilities in Auburn Hills, Michigan and at other company locations around the world," company spokesman Kathy Graham said in a statement. She said BorgWarner does not have any facilities in Russia. The company does, however, have business contracts there.
He previously worked for Kelly Services, which has offices in Russia, his brother said.
He enlisted in the Marines in 1994 and rose through the ranks to become a staff sergeant, serving two tours in Iraq, in 2004 and 2006, according to military records released to The Post. Whelan was discharged for bad conduct in 2008 after being convicted of several charges related to larceny, according to the records.
Several Russian acquaintances described Whelan as a friendly man who greatly appreciated Russia and had a basic command of the language.
An acquaintance in St. Petersburg said the pair had made plans to meet in that city around New Year's Day, but contact with the American abruptly stopped on the day of his arrest.
The arrest comes as U.S.-Russian ties are severely strained, in part over Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
A Russian gun-rights activist, Maria Butina, is in U.S. custody after admitting she acted as a secret agent for the Kremlin in trying to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups as Donald Trump was seeking the presidency. She pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed the case is fabricated and that Butina entered the guilty plea because of the threat of a long prison sentence. The timing of Whelan's arrest has raised questions about a potential swap. The two countries do not have an extradition treaty.
Information for this article was contributed by Lynn Berry and Tom Krisher of The Associated Press; and by Amie Ferris-Rotman of The Washington Post.
A Section on 01/02/2019