INTRIGUE AN COUNTERCHARGES MARK CASE OF PURPORTED SPIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605310002-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: January 13, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605310002-8
NEW YORK TI1'ES
13 January 1985
Intrigue and. Counterc arges
-ark Case of Purported Spies
couple about damage their purported
By. SELWYN RAAB
It was, the Federal Bureau of e says, a cat-and-mouse game
designed to trap a Soviet-bloc spy, iden-
tified by authorities as Karl Frantisek
Koecher.
The game. lasted for 12 days in
November..Sometimes it consisted of
lie-detector tests. and long separate. in-
terrogations of Mr. Koecher - a for-
mer Central Intelligence Agency em-
ployee - and his wife, Hana, in suites
used by. F.B.I. counterintelligence
agents at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel on
Central Park South.
At other times, for undisclosed rea-
ccros, the agents played the game dif-
ferently. Believing the Koechers, were
'planning a permanent move from their
.East Side apartment to Austria, agents
helped them with their last-minute ar-
rangements.
As a final gesture, the F.B.I. volun-
teered to drive the Koechers to Ken-
nedy- International Airport for their
flight to Austria.
A Surprise . Arrest.
On the evening of Nov. 27, the Koech-
ers with packed suitcases, showed up
at the Barbizon Plaza ? for a lift to the
airport. It was then that the couple was
arrested.
While much about the case remains
undisclosed, an account of the Govern-
ment's. pursuit of the Koechers and
their lives in the United States has
.begun to emerge from court, state-
ments, affidavits and interviews with
friends and co-workers of the couple.
Mr. Koecher said through his attor-
ney, Michael Kennedy, that he had
cooperated with the F.B.I. because he
believed he might be used as a C.I.A.
"operative" in Europe. Rudolph W.
Giuliani, the United States Attorney in
Manhattan, declined' to explain the
F.B.L's tactics.
According to Federal prosecutors,
-however, the F.B.I.'s main motive dur
Ing those 12 days was to extract as
much information as possible from the
tional security. The Koechers- ca me to liver C.I.A. secrets to a Czechoslovak
the United States 19 years ago, saying agent in 1975 and that she was a paid
courier for the Czechoslovak intelli-
they were Czechoslovak defectors. gence service until 1983, no criminal
Last
to anh idi tme t o pleaded "not i charges have been brought against her..
guilty to an ent on espionage = Even without criminal charges, she
charges by a Federal grand ir. can be held as a material witness under
Manhattan. If convicted, he face faces a i Federal law. Mr. Kennedy said Mrs.
--sentence of up to life in prison. Koecher's constitutional rights were
Mrs. Koecher was arrested as a ma--
terial witness, and she and her husband
are both being held in ; prison without . Y
.bail.
- Mr. Koecher, through Mr. Kennedy,
asserted that he was a double-agent for
the C.I.A. Mr. Kennedy, in court state-
ments and . interviews, said Mr.
Koecher was duped by the F.B.I. into
signing a false confession in November
that 'he was a Czechoslovak sppyy.who
? was assigned to infiltrate the C.I.A.:
The confession, according to Mr.
? Kennedy, was part of a cover, story
sha by the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. to
ena le Mr. Koecher. to resume espio-
nage work in Europe for the United.
States, not for Czechoslovakia. '
Documents Passed in 1975
In an interview,' Mr. Kennedy ac-
knowledged that Mr. Koecher gave I
? C.I.A. documents to Czechoslovak
agents in 1975. But he said it was done
at the behest of the C.L.A. and was false
information to mislead the Czechosia-
Federal prosecutors .have denied
that Mr. Koecher was it double-agent
for the C,LA.
Bruce A. Green, an- assistant United
fi States Attorney in Manhattan who is in
-charge of the prosecution, said that
during the 12 days in November, both
eKoechers admitted being trained as
spies in Czechoslovakia in the early
1960's. Mr. Green said Mr.. Koecher
-also confessed to using false passports
to return secretly to Czechoslovakia on
two occasions.
`:Court testimony, affidavits and inter-
.:views have disclosed the following
-points about the case: .
f"cThe F.B.I. said it uncovered the
Koechers' espionage activities "sev-
eral years ago," but it apparently
made no attempt to put the couple
under surveillance until Nov. 15.
gThe" F.B.I. said it confronted the
Koechers on Nov. 15 only after learning
E. they were about to leave the country.
:;Friends and co-workers of the Koech-
,:,ers;" :.however, said they traveled
,abroad frequently and their plans to
sell .their cooperative apartment and
move to Austria in November had been
openly discussed for almost one year.-
9Aithough Mr. Green and the F.B.I.
inadmissable as evidence against her.
lMr. Kennedy said that during ques-.
tioning by the F.B.I., both Koechers
passed Be-detector tests proving their
loyalty to the United States. .
.An F.B.I. agent testified at a bail
hearing that Mr. Koecher reported to
the bureau in 1970 and again in 1973,
after he went to work for the C.I.A.,
that Czechoslovak agents had tried to
recruit him. This testimony, Mr. Ken-
nedy said, supports Mr. Koecher's con-
tention that he was assisting American
intelligence services.
4Friends said that mi 'the' United
:State i th Koechers had frequently
supported conservative
ca yKoechers had indicated to
fri they were-'leaving. the
United' tea primarily because he had
been unable to find a permanent. job in
the last seven years.
Mr. Koecher, who is 50 years old, and
his wife, 40, were born in Czechoslova-
kia.
Mr. Koecher, a lanky, gray-haired
man, grew up in Prague and in 1958 re-
ceived a degree in physics " from
Charles University in Prague,' one of
the country's major universities:' -
Later, he . taught mathematics,
edited technical books for a state-run
publishing company and wrote radio
plays and film reviews. - -,
Came to? U.S.. in 1965
The Koechers - immigrated to- the
United States in December 1965. They
said they were political "defectors from
Czechoslovakia and both became natu-
ralized citizens. But, friends and co-
workeis i ,sa id, they disclosed few de-
tails of-their departure from Czechoslo-
vakia.
Michael Reinitz of Manhattan, an ex-
ecutive for a Long Island printing com-
pany who met the couple soon after
they arrived in the United States, said
that Mr. Koecher at the time talked
about having worked clandestinely in
Czechoslovakia for Radio Free Eu-
rope. Until the early 1970's, the C.I.A.
secretly financed Radio Free Europe's
broadcasts to Eastern Europe.
"He talked about making reports to
Radio Free Europe from. a farm out-
side of Prague," Mr. Reinitz recalled,
"and that he had to get out of Czecho-
slovakia because of - political prob-
lems.,' 11
Mr. Koecher's first job in the United
States was as a freelance writer for.
Radio Free Europe in New York,.and
over three years he wrote occasional
scripts for broadcasts to Czechoslova-
Ida.
Studied Under Brzezinski
In 1969,. Mr. Koecher completed a
two-year course at Columbia Universi-
ty's Russian Institute, "where he stud-'
led under Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Mr. Koecher, in applying for a teach-
ing post in 1979,, cited Mr. Brzezinski,
who was then national security adviser
to President Jimmy Carter, as a refer-
C. I y,
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605310002-8
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605310002-8
err e. Mr. Brzezinski, through an aide,
said he had "a vague recollection, noth-
'ing specific" of Mr. Koecher.
From 1969 until 1973, Mr. Koecher '
taught philosophy at Wagner College in
Staten Island. While at Wagner he ob-
tained a doctorate is philosophy from
Columbia University.
The Koechers moved to Washington
in 1973 when he was hired by.the C.I.A.
as a temporary or contract employee.
For two years he was a translator. In
1975; still as a contract employee, he
was transferred to New York, where he
was employed by the agency until 1977.
Justice Department and C.I.A. officials
declined to specify what Mr. Koecher
did in New York for the C.I.A.
Kenneth M. Geide,-an F.B.I. counter-
intelligence agent, said in court affida-
vits that -from February 1973 to August
1975, Mr. Koecher passed on to Czecho
slovak agents classified materials, in-
cluding the names of C.I.A. personnel.
Tests of-Loyalty -Federal officials declined to specify
the importance of the information Mr.
Koecher is accused of funneling to
Czechoslovakia.
i Kathy Pherson, chief of media rela-
tions for the C.I.A., said Mr. Koecher,
like all agency employees, underwent a
lie-detector test and a background
check before being ? employed.
Stansfield Turner, a retired admiral
who was Director of Central Intelli-
gence from 1977 to' 1981, said all em-
ployees were given periodic lie-detec-
tor tests to measure their loyalty. If
Mr. Koecher had worked secretly for
Radio Free Europe in Czechoslovakia
while the agency was subsidized by the
C.I.A., that might have helped him ob-
taro security clearance, Admiral,
Turner noted. , - " "
Acquaintances of Mr. Koecher de-1
scribed him as scholarly, quarrelsome
and, in recent years, increasingly em-
bittered because of his inability to se-
cure' steady employment' He was
turned down for full-time jobs by the
C.I.A., Radio Free Europe and the
State University of New York.
The last job he is known to h ave held
was as a teacher of humanities at the
State University at Old Westbury, L.I.,
from September 1979 to August 1980.
Philip A. Camponeschi, who is chair-
man of the humanities department at
the Old Westbury campus, recalled
that Mr. Koecher seemed eager to ob-
tain a teaching post there. But he was
released after one year, partly because
of disputes with other faculty members
over curriculum- matters and Mr.
Koecher's anti-Communist positions.
While Mr. Koecher was having diffi-
culties finding employment, his wife
was building a career in Manhattan's
diamond district. For the last 10 years
she worked in the small, dingy office of
Savion Diamonds -at 30 West 47th
Street.
Joseph Savion, the owner of the com-
pany, said Mrs. Koecher had begun as
a "girl Friday" and -later became a
partner with him in the Novissa Corpo-
ration, a company that sold pendants
and earrings wholesale.
`A Great Saleswoman'
Mr. Savion said Mrs. Koecher drew
an annual salary of $20,000 from the
Savion company but nothing from No-
vissa. "She had a few thousand dollars
in Novissa and was hoping to see it
grow," he said. "She was a great sales-
woman - everybody on the street
loved her." '
Mr. Koecher told friends that he ad-
vised his wife in her business and iden-
tified himself as the president of Novis-
sa. Mr. Savion, however, said. Mr.
Koecher had no role in the company.
Until the day before she was to leave
for Europe - the day before her arrest
- Mrs. Koecher showed up for works-
Mr. Savion said. She told Mr. Savion
that she would return in the spring to
decide whether to continue their part-
nership.
-._-According to friends of Mrs. Koecn-
er, she said her father was an official of
the -Czechoslovak Communist Party,
Mr..' Geide of the F.B.I. testified that
the Koechers told him that her father.
had been "briefed" about their espio-
nr ge mission- for the Czechoslovak in-
telligence service before the couple left
their homeland.
A friend of the Koechers, Irving Peck
of Manhattan, said Mrs. Koechers' fa-
ther visited New York last summer and
the Koechers traveled with him to
Washington and Florida. "They said
this would be his last chance to see
America and compare capitalism and"
communism," Mr., Peck added.
For 10 years the Koechers, who are
childless, lived in?a.12th-floor, two-bed-
room cooperative apartment at 50 East
89th Street on the corner -of Madison
1 Avenue. ?They paid about $1,000 a
month for maintenance but otherwise
appeared to live modestly.
The apartment, which they bought a
decade ago for $40,000, was sold in
November for about '$'280,000. The
Koechers confided.to.friends that they
planned to use the money. to invest in a
hotel or supermarket in Europe.
Up to the day of their arrests, friends
who met or spoke on the telephone with
the Koechers said, they behaved nor-
mally and without a trace of anxiety.
Five days before the arrests, Dr.
George Kukla, a Czechoslovak defector
who is a senior research scientist with
the Lamont-Doherty Geological Ob-
servatory in Palisades, N.Y., was at a
Thanksgiving dinner
with the Koechers
and other Czechoslovak emigres in
West Milford, N.J.
"He was quiet, calm, absolutely re.
laxed," Dr. Kukla said of Mr. Koecher,
whom he has known : for 12 years.
"There was no indication from either
one of them they were under stress or
in trouble."
Later, Dr. Kukla learned that the
Koechers had been escorted to the din-
ner and driven home by two F.B.I.
agents.
Mr. and Mrs. Koecher are being held
in separate cells at the Metropolitan
Correctional Center in Lower Manhat-
tan. No trial date has been set for Mr.
Koecher.
For refusing to testify before a grand
jury after being _ granted Immunity
from prosecution, Mrs. Koecher was
sentenced last month to an indetermi-
nate prison term of up to 18 months on a
civil contempt citation. A Federal
'Court of Appeals on Tuesday ordered a
new hearing on the contempt charge.
Mrs. Koecher has said she would
never testify against "her:husband.
Referring to statements by prosecu-
tors that the F.B.I. suspected several
years ago that the Koechers. were
spies, Mr. Kennedy, their lawyer, said:
"How can we imagine a circumstance
where the government knows'-they
,have an agent such as they claim-Mr.
Koecher to be and they continue' to
allow him to operate, to allegedly-ppaa
secrets, unless, in fact, he is working, --
Both Mr. and Mrs. Koecher have de-
clined to be interviewed. But in a letter
sent from prison, Mr. Koecher:sald
that since coming to the United States
his "intentions and efforts" were. "to -
be a good and loyal, American-and to
help the American cause." . _
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605310002-8