Reports on Tuesday morning disclosed that the double agent was detained at a café in the Italian capital following months of investigations conducted jointly by the CIA and Portuguese PJ police.
Newspaper Jornal de Notícias (JN) has named the suspect as Frederico Gil Carvalhão, who was detained in Rome along with a Russian spy for being in possession of classified documents and cash.
JN reported the Portuguese national was followed by Portuguese police to Rome, where he met with the Russian spy to sell top-secret political and economic information.
According to the northern-based newspaper, “it is the first time a case of this size, which lays bare the activity of the Security Information Service (SIS) and espionage, is officially known in this country.”
The newspaper further revealed Frederico Carvalhão had previously been subject to disciplinary action under the former head of the SIS, Rui Pereira.
JN claimed Carvalhão “maintained intimate relations with several women from Eastern Europe, including Russia, and travelled frequently to those areas, which raised many doubts within the SIS. On the other hand, he did not hide his proximity to Russia, which was seen as a weakness, given the delicacy of the job he carried out.”
The liaison between the Portuguese SIS member and the Russian agent took place on Saturday, during which Italian police intervened and made the arrests.
The Portuguese man’s residence in Lisbon was also searched as part of the proceedings.
Prime Minister António Costa was kept up to date during the course of the investigation, as it required the lifting of state secrecy laws for the American part of the probe.
A statement from the PJ police revealed the Portuguese national’s arrest was made following a “complex and sensitive” operation named ‘Top Secret’, launched the week before and which culminated on Sunday.
During the investigation “it was possible to clarify facts regarding the practice of espionage crimes, corruption and violation of state secrets.”
The investigation was launched as part of security proceedings initiated by the (SIS).
Prime Minister Costa was kept abreast of developments by the Secretary-General of Information of the Portuguese Republic (SIRP), who said all pointed towards the “suspected existence of a crime of espionage, by an official on behalf of a foreign intelligence service.”
“Fruit of the relationship between the Public Ministry, the Judicial Police (PJ) and the Security Information Service, and the level of international cooperation with the Italian authorities, two people were arrested in Rome for alleged practice of espionage crimes, corruption and violation of state secrets”, the PJ said in its statement.
Portuguese PJ detectives were sent to Rome as part of the investigation, which involved the “excellent collaboration” of the Italian Stato police, Divisione Investigazioni Generali e Operazioni Special (DIGOS), Interpol Roma, and Eurojust.
The two suspects who were arrested have been brought before Italian judicial authorities. At the time of going to press they were awaiting extradition in custody