TURKMENISTAN: ENGINEER AT CATERPILLAR

S E C R E T ASHGABAT 000530 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2018 TAGS: PREL ECON ETRD SOCI KCRM TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: ENGINEER AT CATERPILLAR REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE DEPORTED Classified By: CHARGE SYLVIA REED CURRAN FOR REASONS 1. 4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (S) A Russian citizen engineer, who worked for Zeppelin, the company that represents Caterpillar in Turkmenistan, was convicted of child pornography and deported on April 23, according to German Ambassador Hans Mondorf and EU-TACIS Advisor Michael Wilson. When the engineer was first arrested, Zeppelin Director Viktor Naumov turned to Mondorf for help, who referred Naumov to Wilson for advice. The engineer had entered an orphanage and had taken pictures of children there. He then uploaded the photos to a child pornography website. Justice was swift as he was convicted and deported the same day. ¶2. (S) Reportedly, some unknown person had turned the engineer in. It is also possible that security services may have found something on the individual's personal computer. Diplomats in town believe that the unusually slow connection and other connectivity problems for users of local dial-up Internet in recent weeks was due to the security services looking for others who may be involved in child pornography. ¶3. (S) According to Wilson, Zeppelin has now been "frozen out" of business because of this scandal. Mondorf doubts that the home office in Germany knows all the details of what happened. ¶4. (S) COMMENT: The local legal implications of this crime will likely spread as it is probable that the engineer paid off adults at the orphanage in order to gain entry and abuse the children. If Zeppelin is feeling the negative effects of this scandal, Caterpillar, which in 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 received contracts totaling $46 million, likely will also feel an impact. And if Zeppelin does not know all the details, Caterpillar may also be in the dark. COMMENT. CURRAN