Russian spies operating a cell in New York were trying to find ways to cause an economic meltdown, according to court documents.

The three men allegedly wanted to ‘destabilise’ high frequency trading systems, which were blamed for the Wall St ‘Flash Crash’ of 2010.

The men also moaned to each other that being a modern day spy was nothing like James Bond films, and that they longed for a more glamorous lifestyle, the criminal complaint reveals.

Three Russian men accused of being spies in New York planned to sabotage high-frequency messages by Wall Street traders to cause a financial meltdown, similar to the 'flash crash' in 2010

The FBI began investigating the men in 2010 after ten Russian spies living in the US were arrested, including red-haired femme fatale Anna Chapman.

Last night the exposure of the latest spy ring threatened to turn into a diplomatic row as Russia said there was no evidence against the trio.

Prosecutors in New York named the spies as Igor Sporyshev, 40, who was working as a trade representative, and Victor Podobnyy, 27, who was an attache to the Russian mission at the UN.

They were the handlers of Evgeny Buryakov, 39, a banker at Vnesheconombank, a former Soviet bank owned by the Russian state with an office in Manhattan.

By the time the cell was cracked by the FBI on Monday, Sporyshev and Podobnyy had left America.

However Buryakov was arrested and appeared before a federal judge where prosecutors said: ‘His life here is a deception.’

During the Flash Crash the Dow Jones lost 1,000 points within minutes only to bounce back right away, sparking fears that automated or ‘robot’ trading could be vulnerable to hackers or terrorists.

All three men are accused of trying to gather information on such high frequency trading and Exchange Traded Funds (ETTs), or bundles of shares, by recruiting women who worked in finance and others linked to a major university in the city.

They also tried to get information on US sanctions against Russia and alternative energy sources being developed in America.

In a conversation secretly taped by the FBI in May 2013, Sporyshev asked Buryakov about what questions he can give to other agents working for an unnamed Russian media organisation for intelligence-gathering.

Buryakov replied that they can ask about ETT and ‘how they are used, the mechanisms of use for destabilisation of the markets’.

The men were also secretly recorded talking about how they wished their lives were more like James Bond

He says: ‘Then you ask them what they think about limiting the use of trading robots... and about the potential interest of the participants of the exchange to the products tied to the Russian Federation.’

According to the criminal complaint, the three spies spoke to each other in code to set up their meetings and claimed they had an umbrella or a ticket for the others.

In person Buryakov would pass Sporyshev a bag, a magazine or a piece of paper with information hidden inside it.

They met in the open air so ‘the risk of effective surveillance was reduced relative to an indoor location’.

In a separate conversation, in April 2013, Podobnyy fantasised about being James Bond, saying: ‘The fact that I’m sitting with a cookie right now at the chief enemy spot.

'F***! Not one point what I thought then...not even close. (unintelligible) movies about James Bond.

‘Of course, I wouldn’t fly helicopters. But, pretend to be someone else at a minimum.’

Sporyshev replied: ‘I also thought that at least I would go abroad with a different passport.’

Buryakov was denied bail because he was a flight risk.

He is accused of acting as an undeclared foreign spy among other offences and faces 15 years in jail if convicted.