Evgeny Buryakov, a former New York banker who was convicted in federal court of conspiring to act in the United States as an agent of the Russian Federation, is shown in this handout photo sitting on a commercial flight, escorted by deportation officers a
Evgeny Buryakov, a former New York banker who was convicted in federal court of conspiring to act in the United States as an agent of the Russian Federation, is shown in this handout photo sitting on a commercial flight, escorted by deportation officers and turned over to Russian authorities, Reuters Pics

On 5 April, the US deported a Russian spy who had been posing as a bank employee in New York and was part of an espionage ring which had contact with a former adviser to Donald Trump.

Evgeny Buryakov, 42, was sent to Russia on commercial flights, escorted by deportation officers and turned over to Russian authorities, US Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement.

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Buryakov worked for several years as an agent of Russia's foreign intelligence agency, the SVR, according to the ICE and court documents. He worked in the US under non-official cover, meaning he posed as a private citizen, working in a branch of Russian bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) in New York.

He was arrested in 2015, and pleaded guilty to having worked as an agent for Russia without declaring his status to the Attorney General, as legally required.

Buryakov was released from prison and briefly taken into ICE custody, and placed on an Aeroflot plane. A Russian embassy spokesman confirmed to CBS News that Buryakov had arrived in Moscow.

Buryakov was part of a Russian spy ring that included two officials at Russian government agencies in the US.

According to court documents one of the men, Viktor Podobnyy, had contact with former Trump spokesman Carter Page in 2013.

Page has confirmed that he provided Podobnyy with information on the energy industry, but said the information was not sensitive and he had no idea the men were intelligence agents.

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