Tracey Ann Foley, Accused Russian Spy, Was 'Well-Liked' And 'Friendly,' Her Boss Says

The boss of Massachusetts resident Tracey Ann Foley, who was arrested in connection with a massive Russian spy ring, has responded to the arrest on his company's blog. (Hat tip to Portfolio.)

Glenn Kelman, the CEO of the online real estate brokerage, Redfin, which is based in Seattle, wrote on his company's blog that Foley was "well-liked" and "friendly." He also defended his company's hiring practices. Here's Kelman:

Before we hired Ms. Foley in February of this year, at least two Redfin employees interviewed her, using a template that focuses on character, specifically situations where the candidate has put customers' interests ahead of her own, and where the candidate has worked on a team. She interviewed well.

According to her application, she had worked since 2007 for the real estate brokerages Weichert and Channing Real Estate. As with every agent we hire, Redfin validated her social security number, her deal history and that her real estate license was in good standing; as with every agent we hire, we ran a criminal background check, which came up clean.

The Washington Post referred to Foley, who lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as an "attractive, vaguely European blonde." Foley lived with her husband, Donald Heathfield, in a $900,000 duplex near Harvard, the paper notes.

Kelman added:

We learned of her arrest by reading about it in the newspaper this afternoon, and haven't communicated with her since. Because we don't have a large human resources department to advise us on privacy matters, and since she has been accused of a grave crime, we have disclosed the facts of our relationship with Ms. Foley here, and would rather not venture opinions beyond that.