London: Britain has stripped Russian Anna Chapman of her British citizenship following her deportation from the United States in a spy swap last week, the home office said on Tuesday.
Chapman lived in Britain for several years after marrying an Englishman in 2002. Her lawyer has indicated Chapman, who is now divorced, may seek to return to Britain, according to media reports.
"The Home Secretary (Theresa May) has the right to deprive dual nationals of their British citizenship and, once deprived, to exclude them from the UK where she considers that to do so would be conducive to the public good," a ministry official said.
Also known as Anya Kushchenko, the 28-year-old was arrested in Manhattan, where she ran a $2 million real estate business, her lawyer said in court last week.
The New York Post and other media have reported Chapman was often spotted at popular night clubs.
In one of the biggest spy swaps since the end of the Cold War, 10 people who admitted being agents for Russia were exchanged in Vienna on Friday for four individuals imprisoned in Russia for contacts with Western intelligence agencies.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, July 13, 2010, 23:46