DATE=2/18/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=MIAMI / CUBA SPY (L) NUMBER=2-259318 (CQ) BYLINE=MICHAEL BOWMAN DATELINE=MIAMI CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: In Miami, federal agents have detailed espionage charges against a high-ranking U-S Immigration official arrested late Thursday. The suspect is accused of passing sensitive information to agents of the Cuban Government. V-O-A's Michael Bowman has details from Miami. TEXT: At a news conference, the F-B-I said, for more than a year, Mariano Faget (pron: fah-HET) - a chief in the Miami office of the U-S Immigration and Naturalization Service - maintained contacts with Cuban operatives in the United States. F-B-I Special Agent Paul Mallett: /// MALLETT ACT /// Faget is known to have placed telephone calls to an extension of the Cuban Interests Section - which is a representative office of the Cuban Government - in Washington. Faget has met with representatives of the Cuban Interests Section. Faget has also had numerous contacts with a Cuban-born resident alien who is the chief executive officer of a business located in New York city, who, in turn, is known to have had several meetings with agents and representatives of the Cuban Government during the past year. /// END ACT /// The Cuban-born, 54-year-old Mariano Faget worked for the I-N-S for more than 30 years, rising from a low- level clerk to assume a supervisory position in the agency's hectic Miami field office. The F-B-I has declined to state the events that initially made them suspicious of the suspect. But last week, after months of surveillance, the F-B-I and the I-N-S launched a sting operation code named "False Blue." Agents told Mariano Faget that they needed him to process asylum papers for a Cuban intelligence officer who was -- supposedly -- about to defect. F- B-I Special Agent Mallett described what allegedly happened next: /// MALLET ACT /// Faget was told that the information he was being entrusted with was secret and very sensitive. The meeting was both videotaped and audiotaped. Approximately twelve minutes after that meeting, Faget placed a telephone call from his office to the offices of the New York businessman. Faget identified the full name of the individual for whom he had been asked to prepare the political asylum document. /// END ACT /// The F-B-I says Mariano Faget is guilty of two crimes: passing secret information and making false statements to federal officials. The U-S District Attorney for Miami, Tom Scott, says other suspects could also be charged. /// SCOTT ACT /// Are we going to charge Cuban agents in Washington? It's an ongoing investigation, but I think you can anticipate further action and announcements. /// END ACT /// For its part, the I-N-S says Mariano Faget never handled any information related to the case of six- year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez. Nevertheless, many Cuban exiles in Miami say they have new reasons to be suspicious of the I-N-S and the agency's handling of the Elian matter. A spokeswoman for the Cuban-American National Foundation, Ninoska Perez, says the espionage case should serve as a warning to those who want the United States to establish ties with Cuba. /// PEREZ ACT /// It shows that Fidel Castro - a dictator 90-miles from our shores - has infiltrated the top organizations of this country. Why should this government (the Clinton Administration) be playing baseball with Fidel Castro -- encouraging, as the State Department does -- companies to go to exhibits and (trade) fairs in Cuba when the Cold War is not over for Fidel Castro? /// END ACT /// In late 1998, federal agents cracked an alleged Cuban spy ring that is believed to have infiltrated Cuban exile organizations in South Florida. The F-B-I says the Mariano Faget case is unrelated to the previous counter-espionage operation. (SIGNED) NEB/MCB/ENE/JP 18-Feb-2000 16:06 PM EDT (18-Feb-2000 2106 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .