Kira Korolev and Igor Korolev: Apartment, bank accounts of accused Russian spies seized amid espionage case

The apartment, multiple bank accounts, and the superannuation funds belonging to two Russian-born Australians accused of espionage have been restrained.

Kira Korolev, a 40-year-old army private and her 62-year-old labourer husband Igor, were charged last month with allegedly stealing sensitive Defence Force material with the intent of providing intelligence to the Kremlin.

Marking the first time anyone had been charged under espionage laws introduced in 2018, the couple — who arrived in Australia a decade ago — face up to 15 years behind bars if found guilty.

In a major development, the Queensland Supreme Court this week made restraining orders relating to the Brisbane apartment the couple own, along with multiple bank accounts and the superannuation funds Ms Korolev acquired during her employment with the ADF.

Restraining orders prohibit the disposal of, or any dealing with the property, unless authorised by a court.

The Australian Federal Police is now seeking to confiscate the assets — worth more than $550,000 — under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Acting commander of the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce, Amelia McDonald, said confiscating wealth from alleged criminals was a crucial part of the role of law enforcement.

“The AFP has a two-pronged strategy for combating illegal activity — investigation and criminal prosecutions; and also confiscating wealth from people who try to operate outside of the law,” she said.

It’s alleged she travelled undeclared to Russia, and while there instructed her husband on how to log into her official work account, and guided him to access specific information to send to her private email address.

According to court documents tabled for Ms Korolev’s hearing last month, she is also accused of maintaining relationships with Russian intelligence services as far back as December 2022 and as recently as this July.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has maintained he is “confident” the alleged Russian spies did not obtain any “secrets”.

“We are really confident that there is no significant piece of information, no significant secret, that is held by our nation, that was accessed by this individual,” he said last month.

“So we are really confident about the integrity of the Defence Force’s security systems in terms of the way in which we are managing our information.

“And we’re really confident that these individuals have not breached that.”

The pair are due back in court next month.

Any funds confiscated will be placed into the Confiscated Assets Account, managed by the Australian Financial Security Authority on behalf of the Commonwealth. The Attorney-General can then distribute those funds as he sees fit to crime prevention, intervention, or other law enforcement initiatives.