Canadian Accused of Spying in Case Involving U.S. Secrets

A Newfoundland man has been charged with spying in a case involving classified U.S. military information that could have been useful to the Soviet Union, Canadian authorities said Monday.

Stephen Joseph Ratkai, 25, believed to be a Canadian citizen, was charged with espionage under the Official Secrets Act after an investigation that spanned considerable time, Solicitor General James Kelleher told the House of Commons.

Kelleher declined to give any but the barest details of the case.

U.S. government sources told The Times that the espionage arrest was the result of a U.S. Navy double-agent operation launched a year and a half ago by the Naval Investigative Service, working in cooperation with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The operation involved the use of a U.S. sailor who passed himself off as a willing traitor while serving at a U.S. Navy facility in Newfoundland, officials said. During the last 18 months, they disclosed, the unidentified double agent met with Ratkai on four occasions, giving him carefully-screened secret documents and other classified items in exchange for about $5,000.

The arrested spy suspect is believed to be an agent of one of the East Bloc intelligence services working closely with the Soviet Union, one U.S. intelligence source said. He said the suspect carried the identification of a Canadian citizen who moved to Hungary at the age of 10 but cautioned that the identity could be an assumed one.

Servicemen Targeted

William A. Warchuck, director of counterintelligence for the U.S. Naval Investigative Service, confirmed the details of the arrest when contacted by The Times, saying that the double agent operation mounted in Canada illustrates how foreign intelligence services target U.S. servicemen throughout the world.

“What we were attempting to do here is to show that hostile intelligence services are in fact engaged against the U.S. worldwide,” Warchuck said. “Obviously, in intelligence parlance, Ratkai is an ‘illegal agent,’ not officially connected to any government. In this case the double agent offered his services to Ratkai and was readily accepted.”

Here in Ottawa, Kelleher said that Ratkai was arraigned before a judge Sunday and is scheduled to make another court appearance on Wednesday. He also said that Ratkai was not a Canadian government or military employee.

The offense charged against Ratkai carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison upon conviction.