European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 12, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ii i army spy ring probe uncovers big operation sunday March 1 a 1989 the stars and stripes Page 9 by the new Yirk times Washington a . Army espionage ring in West Germany broken up last summer was larger and Mare serious than first Cali cd and the  of invest ten lion is now investigating As Many As five former soldiers As pan of the. Case according to govern ment officials and documents. -.,- the network which reported to the hungarian intelligence service was Bro Ken up in August after simultaneous arrests in West Germany of Clyde Lee Conrad a retired army sergeant first class and in Sweden of Imre Kersek and Sandor Korcsik two doctors who a Tedas couriers Tor the ring Tim Kresik Brothers who were bom in Hungary and lived in Sweden were convicted last fall in Sweden of illegal intelligence activity. Conrad has been jailed in West Cic Many since augustan is expected in go on trial in arc this year on treason chares. Initial accounts of the Ila Mafie cause Day Rhc three Man ring a Rcd Conrad s Tup secret Security clearance and the Sal of nato wartime contingency  Fiill new information some of which was. Made Public in Sweden after the conviction of he two doctors shows a much More extensive and troublesome opera. Oon.  in addition to disclosing nato War time contingency plans the Docu minis. Revealed key intelligence assets such As networks and Safe houses in West Ger Many used by american intelligence agents officials said. The hungarians routinely share their information wit the soviet Union the new information indicates a nuclear related documents above the level of lop secret were delivered to  according to documents and officials finally a Fuller Pilu re of he spy ring has emerged suggesting that after years of double dealing million Dollar Swiss Bank accounts and the avoidance of detection through code words couriers and mail drops the network was  by its own greed and complacency. The roots of hungarian infiltration of. The army predate the ring. Sandor Korcsik told swedish officials that in 1967 in Vienna he met an Amer ican Soldier of hungarian descent Calle Zoltan Szabo. Over the no a several years,.kcrcsik.delivered military secrets stolen by Szabo to  according to Conn records in Sweden and officials.  s value to  even. Tally diminished,.but he recruited con Rad and introduced him to Sandor. Kerr Sik in 1974 in Mainz West Germany swedish court records show Sihabo left the army in it Elaie 1970s-and moved to Austria and is now believed to be in Hungary ,. Outside inc reach of. West German or american prosecutors,1 officials said. 1 meanwhile Conrad apparently be came very important to  at one Point Sandor Korcsik gave instructions and a medical Book to Conradson he could pretend to have a backache and avoid being transferred out of West Germany according to court records. Conrad,1 who retired from the array in 198s, worked at the Headquarters of.the8th inf div in bad Kreuz Nach West. Germany from 1974 to 1979 and 1980 a 19ss. I spent 16 of hii"20.years in the Anny in West Ger Nany i Anil his German wife and heir son lived  town less than a mile East of bad Kreuz Nadi. .-.-. " an american intelligence official said Conrad  to the hungarian intelligence service both in the Quality and Quantity of information he delivered a Ifie hungarians changed their method of operation As a result of his activities.  official also said the seriousness of the damage caused by Conrad and his associates Hud never been made Public and was closely held by the United stat Sand West Germany. Conrad and his associates arc believed to have sold at least several Hundred documents to  officials said. Bui new information obtained by swedish and other Western investigator shows that after his retirement Conrad and other army sold cars in West Ger Many were meeting with the pc Rasiks to pass stolen documents classified higher than top secret including documents Wilh he code word cosmic according to court records and officials. Cosmic is a code word for nuclear secrets that arc More restricted than lop secret information the officials said. Itis not known exactly what nuclear re lated information was compromised. The Obj which investigated the,con Rad Casein conjunction with the army and West German investigators is investigating As Many As five army associates of Conrad who arc believed to have assisted him in his spying said  and Sven lot Hakan son. The swedish prosecutor who handled the Korcsik Case. This inquiry does no include Szabo the hungarian american who recruited Conrad. The assistance included help in copy ing and transporting stolen army Doc the faces of an accused spy at left a Clyde Iff Conrad in 1565 yearbook Phulo at right Conrad in n picture taken in the slim wis a Iho i school Menis to  officials  spokesman for the Fri said the Bureau would have no comment on the ease the Kere Siks have identified pictures of some of these associates and have offered to come to the United Stales Tot vilify according to officials. The former soldiers under investigation Are retire from the army and living in various location in the United Stales according to officials. / Conrad seems to have been motivated in Large part by Money. Officials said they believed  former sergeant hid More than $2 million in Bank accounts in Switzerland. While he was being paid by  Conrad devised a Pian to sell in same stolen documents to the czech Oslo Vaks according to court records and officials. This plan apparently went undetected even though Czechoslovakia also shares its information with the soviet Union. Conrad had another More Brazen scheme for Money. . The son and the wife of the accused espionage a genl he decided to Contact the Cia in the Guise of being a fictitious hungarian intelligence on tier named  telling the Agency that he could help it uncover an army spy ring that had been Selling secrets to , according to court records and offi coils. Conrad these sources said1 never in tended to give inc Cia any information of real value a Alicr he was trying id fool the Agency into paying him and thinking they could eventually find out about a Security breach. This bold plan Wilh Conrad both spy ing for Hungary and pretending to be hungarian spy informing about himself worked at first1 the Cia accepted the offer from David making a few payments of ions of thousands of Joll ifs to Conrad and his1-. Associates at Clandestine meetings in Switzerland in 1986, according to court records and officials. The Agency never did discover  what secrets had been compromised  it identify inc person who picked up the Money in Switzerland. Apparently Conrad was dressed in a Way that concealed his ,  informed the pc Rasiks that someone had contacted. The americans and he Contact with the americans was broken off according to court records. Ii is not Clear How the hungarian Learned about Conrady deception but officials suspect thai Szabo May have been the source at first the Cia kept the episode to juice but Cvach Liwally the Agency told the army about a possible infiltration by  according id officials. Consider Able detective work by the army and the Fri narrowed the list of suspects to con. Rud the officials added. Then the investigators working with the West germans were Able to compile enough evidence through the use of photographic and electronic surveillance to make the arrests in August. Some details about the Case including reports of the american payments to Conrad have been reported in the swed ish press. The foreign broadcast information service a Cia unit that trans lates and. Publishes foreign new accounts never published any of Irani in swedish reports although in did Iran hic other swedish press accounts on Intilli Gunc u issues,1 the Cia information service s re prints Are widely used throughout the. Government As Well As by outside re searchers journalists and businesses Bill Raker a Spula Iii Kin for Thi a said there was no withholding of information by the information service the private sector does use our mate rial but we Are not in the business  that sector we re in the Busi Ness of supporting the intelligence Community he said