Business School alum arrested in alleged espionage ring

Cynthia Murphy, Business '10, did more than simply study marketing and managerial economics before graduating in May—she was allegedly investigating the inner workings of the University and the U.S. government as a spy.

Following a multi-year FBI investigation, Murphy was one of 10 people arrested on Sunday for participation in an alleged Russian espionage ring. She and her husband have been suspected of carrying out long-term, “deep-cover” assignments on behalf of the Russian Federation, which included extracting information from her own classmates and professors.

Murphy, a suburban New Jersey mother of two, received her MBA in May 2010, according to Keshia Mark, assistant director of the Business School. During Murphy's time as a business student, she received “info tasks” from her superiors in Russia—directives concerning information that the foreign intelligence branch of the Russian Federation wanted her to obtain, according to a federal complaint filed by a special agent of the FBI which Spectator obtained.

Among Murphy’s duties was to infiltrate University classrooms and report relevant information to “Moscow Center,” the headquarters of Russia’s intelligence service (the SVR).

“Strengthen…ties w. classmates on daily basis incl. professors who can help in job search and who can help in job search and who will have (or already have) access to secret info,” the SVR directed her, according to the complaint.

She was told to collect information on certain University associates, and to “‘dig up’ personal data of those students who apply (or are hired already) for a job at CIA.”

The SVR then conducted checks of those with whom she came in contact to determine whether a person was or was not "clean"--meaning whether they had any governmental ties.

“[R]eport to Center] on their detailed personal data and character traits w. preliminary conclusions about their potential (vulnerability) to be recruited by Service," the SVU instructed her.

In response to these directives, according to the complaint, Murphy relayed the names of University affiliates to the SVR. When the SVR database indicated that one of Murphy’s contacts may have belonged to a “foreign spy net[work],” Murphy was instructed “to avoid deepening contact with them for sec[urity] reasons.”

Beyond the University, she made her way into government circles throughout Manhattan. She served as a vice president of the high-end accounting and financial advising firm Morea Financial Services. The company manages one of New York's most prominent financiers for the Democratic Party, Alan Petricof, who was the finance chairman of Secretary of State Hillar Clinton's Senate Campaign.

Still, she took special pains along the way not to attract too much attention, fearing that she would not make it past background checks when applying for jobs. Through law-enforcement agents' intercepted aural communications taking place inside her Hoboken, New Jersey apartment, they learned that she advised her husband in 2004 not to apply for jobs at the top rungs of the U.S. Government, such as the State Department. She told him instead to befriend people who were affiliated with "important venues" (such as the White House) where he himself would not be able to obtain direct access.

Similarly, in a January 10, 2010 communication with the SVU, according to the federal complaint, she reported that she was interested in taking a job with a private sector entity that would entail "lobbying" and "dealing with U.S. and foreign governments," but was concerned that such work might require an extended background check."