Oddball stories from 2010
On July 9, following a quick trial, the U.S. government deported a certified planner named Cynthia A. Murphy. It's fairly unusual for the U.S. government to deport financial planners, less so for spies. And that's what it turned out Murphy — aka Lydia Guryev — actually was. Apparently, the certified financial planner was part of 'deep cover' Russian spy ring that included at least nine others.
Murphy, who was a member of the New York chapter of the Financial Planning Association, worked at Merea Financial Services in Manhattan. It appears that she put the office to good use, too. Murphy allegedly collected information about the financial markets while at work and used her office to meet clients whom she could pump for information. She then relayed that info back to the Motherland.
A month after her deportation, CFP Land – that is, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc.— revoked Murphy's planning credentials.