The State Department said today it had "vetted the company and the name of each individual identified or associated with Elite Security with relevant national and local agencies." A US state procurement website indicated that September's contract was worth USD 2.8 million.
The statement follows a report in the Russian business daily Kommersant, which said Elite Security was founded by ex-KGB spy Viktor Budanov and is currently run by his son.
Kommersant said Budanov was a one-time boss of Vladimir Putin in East Germany when the Russian president served as a KGB officer there in the 1980s. Budanov also worked with British double agent Kim Philby.