Bad Russians abound locally as a Seton Hall grad was one of the alleged spies recently cuffed by the FBI

Mikhail Semenko, a Seton Hall grad and a guy who loves his New Jersey Devils was one of the alleged spies recently arrested by the FBI. Semenko was arrested in Washington DC after making a $5000 drop in a park for another agent. He had been given the 5 large by an undercover US agent. The stated goal of the alleged spies was to blend in as much as possible into the American fabric which it appears they did.

They spoke in code before meetings were set up:

The phone call began with a question, spoken in secret code. "Could we have met in Beijing in 2004?" asked an undercover FBI agent, posing as a Russian government official. "Yes. We might have, but I believe it was in Harbin," was the prearranged response from Mikhail Semenko, a 28-year-old Seton Hall graduate who authorities say was a budding Russian spy.

However lack of true American culture may have led to Semenko's downfall as he was heard asking an undercover agent "Where are Moose and Squirrel?"

Mikhail Semenko (Jersey City Desk file photo)