Inman

Real estate portal execs smitten by Russian spy

Editor’s note: This item is republished with permission from Global Edge Marketing Ltd. View original post.

Anna Chapman, the "sexy femme fatale" at the center of the Russian spy scandal that hit the front pages in July, left the owner of a prominent property portal in the U.S. "unable to think," according to a new report.

According to an interview in Details magazine, Bill Staniford, CEO of PropertyShark.com in the U.S., was seduced by Chapman. 

"She walks in with this other guy, and I’ll tell you, as soon as she walks in, I don’t remember anything else," he said. "She knocked me out. There was something about her — I think it might have been the red hair, or the way she walked, or her body."

Trade Secrets

Although Chapman had a similar reaction on co-founder Matthew Haines, he told Details Magazine that he didn’t let any confidential information slip. "Believe me, I’ve been around the world, and I’ve met women, and I think I know how to think with my brain … but …"

Déjà vu?

It seems Chapman had a habit of attending social engagements with owners of property portals. In July, we revealed that her night out with Dan Johnson, owner of prominent overseas portal, TheMoveChannel.com, led to a flurry of media inquiries and valuable one-way links to his site as journalists tracked him down through their connection on business networking site, LinkedIn.

Industry weakness?

A minority of unscrupulous companies have led our industry to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the last few years. But perhaps the media have missed our real weakness: a soft spot for attractive Russian spies!

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