Qualcomm Engineer Arrested On Spy Charges In Russia

Computergram International, Jan 2, 1998

A Qualcomm Inc field engineer arrested in Russia on spying charges will have to return to the former Soviet Union in early January, after being freed to return to the US for Christmas. Robert Bliss was arrested in Rostov, Russia at the end of November as a suspected spy while visiting the country as part of an agreement between San Diego, California-based Qualcomm and Russian telephone company Elektrosvyaz, to install a wireless Code Division Multiple Access telecommunications system.

The exact terms on which the espionage accusations are based have not been revealed, but it is thought the incident came to a head when Bliss was driving around Rostov in a car mounted with a device to test the phone system. Bliss, a 29-year-old Qualcomm employee was temporarily released by the Federal Security Service, one of the successors of the KGB, on the assurance of Qualcomm executive Daniel Sullivan that Bliss would return to Russia to continue to help with the investigation on January 10. Bliss's release was also helped along by a degree of involvement from the US State Department and Vice President Al Gore. Qualcomm has backed Bliss all the way, and issued a statement declaring its total confidence that the engineer is entirely innocent, and it is understood that Bliss has traveled no further than Mexico and Canada, prior to his trip to Russia. Bliss was released from custody on December 6, but had to stay in Rostov, after spending 11 days in an isolation cell. At one point it was thought that bail would be set at $5m, a sum Qualcomm was prepared to pay.