Gerhard Daniel Campos is a Brazilian citizen who owns an apartment in Rio de Janeiro, runs a small 3D printing company, has a partner from the city, and a cat.
He passes as a model man, from the middle class, perfectly integrated into the local community. His only flaw is that he is a Russian spy. His real name is Artem Shmirev, he worked for the FSB in Moscow, and was married in Russia. When he was exposed, he was eagerly awaiting missions from the Kremlin.
An article published by the New York Times five years ago presented a secret operation carried out by the intelligence agencies of the USA and Brazil, which destroyed an entire network of Russian agents who had birth certificates issued by Brazilian authorities. One of the agents was Artem Shmirev.
Through a legal loophole in this country, a person from rural areas could obtain an original birth certificate if accompanied by two witnesses who declared in front of municipal officials that the person was born on the specified date and in the respective locality. Russian spies corrupted several employees in the poor administrations of isolated villages and towns, obtaining birth certificates through this procedure of buying witnesses.
Then everything became easy; many Russian spies obtained passports, with the ability to travel worldwide without arousing any suspicion.
Obtaining Citizenship through Cunning
On Tuesday, November 25, Romanian prosecutors issued a statement announcing an investigation and searches at 17 addresses, including public institutions, following the issuance of identity cards and Romanian passports to individuals from Russia.
VIDEO. One of the thousands of clips circulating on social networks where Russians are taught how to become legal Romanians - Source: YouTube
"The investigation aims to dismantle a network that, through officials from a population registry office and a town hall, obtained Romanian identity documents not compliant with reality, regarding domicile, but also regarding the acquisition of Romanian citizenship for individuals born in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Moldova, and other former USSR countries," states the General Prosecutor's Office press release.
The resemblance to the operation in Brazil from 5 years ago is shocking. The involvement of officials from the local administrations of Dumbrăveni and Sălăgeni, Suceava County, in collaboration with corrupt officials from the Population Registry Office, appears as a faithful copy of the modus operandi in rural Brazil.
"...the beneficiaries obtained identity cards with a declared domicile at properties belonging to Romanian citizens who were not the owners of the respective space (improper or disused buildings) or without the owners' consent, by falsely drafting space acquisition declarations and, implicitly, without their presence in front of the Population Registry Office official," the statement further reads.
Thousands of YouTube Clips Teach Russians to Become Romanians
In recent days, both journalists and mayors have reported that hundreds of Russians have obtained legal identity documents from authorities following actions of influence and corruption of Romanian officials and police.
"...68 identity cards issued with false documents, canceled by Sector 6! 300 cases are pending," announced Ciprian Ciucu, Mayor of Sector 6, in a Facebook post.
"...I find it laughable that we are only now talking about the prices practiced in our institutions for obtaining Romanian citizenship. Even those who are currently investigating these cases, together with consular services, the Foreigners Authority, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the SRI, everyone, they know exactly that, for decades, Romanian citizenship has been the subject of transactions...," stated historian Cosmin Popa, an expert in the Russian space and in analyzing dictatorial systems, in an interview given to spotmedia.ro.
On YouTube, there are thousands of videos in Russian where companies, lawyers, or so-called experts explain to Russians the ways in which they can obtain Romanian citizenship, identity cards, and Romanian passports.
SRI Bears Full Responsibility
Such an online popularized strategy shows the existence of widespread cases of corruption within the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But the situation is even more serious. Analyzing what happened in Romania, how the authorities acted, rushing to investigate the sale of citizenship after many years, as highlighted by historian Cosmin Popa, they did nothing, and comparing it with the operation carried out 5 years ago in Brazil by American intelligence services, it appears that the sale of Romanian identity documents to Russians has become a threat to Western states.
"It is clear that without the complicity of some Romanian state officials, Romanian identity documents could not have been obtained by Russian citizens, deceased Ukrainian citizens who were replaced in documents given to Russians, and here the SRI bears full responsibility," stated Traian Băsescu, former President of Romania, in an intervention on B1 TV.
"The Romanian Intelligence Service, apart from telling us how it fights cyber attacks, has to protect the country regarding the appearance, the use of forged documents by Romanian authorities, not by anyone else," added Traian Băsescu.
A New Security Breach Caused by Corruption
The extent of the phenomenon of selling identity documents is recognized by the General Prosecutor's Office, with prosecutors stating that investigations related to this phenomenon began last year.
"For a correct information of the public opinion, we specify that since 2024, several criminal files concerning the trafficking of false identity documents have been opened in our institution. Some of these cases have been concluded with indictments or guilty plea agreements, while other cases are still pending. These cases were initiated as a result of the official notification by the criminal prosecution bodies and target actions carried out in several localities in Romania," states an official press release from the General Prosecutor's Office.
Romanian authorities are trying to downplay the impact of the identity trafficking phenomenon, suggesting that it is widespread, bringing to the attention of the public a new national security vulnerability caused by corruption.