Mystery over claims that Russian double agent, 64, who exposed glamour spy Anna Chapman has died in US
- Ex-intelligence officer Colonel Alexander Poteyev was convicted of exposing ten fellow spies working uncover in the US in 2011
- He was sentenced to 25 years behind bars by the Moscow District Military Court but fled to the US
- Among the agents he betrayed was the glamour spy, Anna Chapman
- Russia reports said Poteyev - viewed as one of their worst traitors - had died
PUBLISHED: 04:30 EST, 7 July 2016 | UPDATED: 09:51 EST, 7 July 2016
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A former Russian double agent who exposed glamour spy Anna Chapman has died in the US, it has been reported.
Ex-intelligence officer Colonel Alexander Poteyev, 64, was convicted by The Moscow District Military Court of betraying ten fellow spies working uncover in the US in 2011 and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Among the agents that Poteyev betrayed was Miss Chapman, who testified with nine fellow deep-cover agents at the trial.
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Poteyev fled to the US just days before the scandal broke (pictured: at his trial, in 2011)
Poteyev, pictured in Kabul, was charged over the exposure of 10 sleeper agents in the United States
Russian news agency Interfax reported Poteyev - viewed as being one of modern Russia's worst traitors - had passed away.
An anonymous source said: 'According to some information, Poteyev died in the USA. At the moment this information is being checked.'
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Interfax added: 'A second source has confirmed receiving the similar information from abroad but he did not exclude that 'it can be deceptive information, aimed at making people forget about the traitor'.
There have been no reports from the US that the 64-year-old had passed away.
The Russian report gave no suspected cause of the reported death.
Anna Chapman, 29, and nine other sleeper agents known as 'illegals' were captured in America in 2010 after they had been under US intelligence surveillance for several years
The ex-spy who now runs an antique shop in a trendy district of Moscow and works as a TV host
Anna Chapman was deported from the United States in 2010 after being charged with working as part of a Russian spy ring
Anna Chapman in uniform as she visits Russian tank division
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Poteyev had overseen the Russian sleeper agents in the US as a deputy head of the 'S' department of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service.
Chapman and nine other agents were captured in America after they had been under US intelligence surveillance for several years.
They were later swapped for four men imprisoned in Russia who had allegedly spied for MI6 and the CIA. An 11th agent was arrested in Cyprus but then skipped bail and disappeared.
Poteyev fled to America shortly before US authorities announced they had busted the spy ring.
The spy left his wife behind in Russia and texted her saying: 'Try to take this calmly: I'm not going away for a while, I'm going away forever. I did not want to, but I had to. I will start a new life. I'll try to help the children.'
During the trial, Chapman said she was arrested in New York after a US agent posing as a Russian spy had identified himself with a code which only Porteyev and one other source could have known.
Days earlier he had fled Moscow for the West, she said.
Porteyev had two children and some reports suggested they were working in the US before his defection.
Chapman and nine other agents were captured in America after they had been under US intelligence surveillance for several years. The 10 are pictured above. Chapman is seen top right