New York Men Remember Sexy Russian Spy
Men who knew (and dated) Anna Chapman meet in a New York bar to swap stories.
Sept. 14, 2010 — -- Three months after sexy redheaded spy Anna Chapman was sent back to Mother Russia, the men of New York who knew her still speak fondly of her.
"She was a seductress," her friend Dennis Hirdt, a Roberto Cavalli model, told Details magazine: "When I first met her, from the get-go: Little hand touches. Whispers. When you're in a loud place it kind of lends itself to getting close to someone and maybe putting a hand on the cheek, or maybe 'by accident' lips rubbing against an earlobe."
Gathered at a Manhattan bar, Hirdt and other men who had either dated or partied with Chapman shared stories about the undercover bombshell.
Once the men had "loosened up," according to Details, one asked "Okay, who [slept with] her?" Several raised their hands. Some claimed they had been in touch with her after her arrest.
On the New York club scene where she was a regular, friends of Chapman told ABC News they thought she was either a billionaire or hooker and described an overly flirtatious femme fatale who frequented the most exclusive bars and restaurants dressed in platform heels and designer duds.
Chapman, born Anya Kushchenko, was one of ten Russian spies sent back to their home country in July in the largest spy swap with the United States since the Cold War. She and the other spies pleaded guilty to espionage before being flown to Vienna to be exchanged for prisoners being held by the Soviets for allegedly spying for the US and Britain.
Topless photos of Chapman appeared in newspapers in the U.S. and the U.K, leaked to tabloids by her British ex-husband, whose last name she kept.
Since returning to Russia, Chapman has appeared in a sexy photo spread in the Russian magazine "Heat." After Chapman posted a snapshot from the shoot on her Facebook page ahead of Heat's planned publication date, and the magazine announced they are suing her for allegedly breaking her contract.
American entrepreneurs also capitalized on Chapman's looks and sex appeal after her arrest.
Herobuilders, a doll maker that creates ripped-from-headline action figures, debuted two new foot-tall Anna Chapman figurines, each selling for $29.95 on Herobuilders.com.
Chapman was also a Facebook friend of well-known economist and NYU Stern Business School professor Nouriel Roubini. Roubini, dubbed "Dr. Doom," has been credited with predicting the global economic meltdown and is well-known on the New York nightlife circuit.
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When ABC News contacted Roubini about the connection, the former Director of the Office of Policy Development and Review at the U.S. Treasury Department removed Chapman from his friends list. Roubini told ABC News that Chapman had "befriended" him on Facebook and that he may have met her socially "on one or two occasions in a large party," but that he had never had a one to one conversation with her.
Alexander Marquardt and Megan Chuchmach contributed reporting to this story.