He had top secret clearance and decades inside one of the country’s most secretive agencies. Now a former senior CIA official is facing federal charges that he stole hundreds of gold bars from the U.S. government – then took them home.
The accused official, whose name wasn’t immediately available in early reporting, is alleged to have walked away with more than $40 million worth of gold, according to the charges filed. Prosecutors say the bars were stashed at his residence.
The charges
The case raises hard questions about internal controls at the CIA – specifically how someone with that level of access could allegedly move that volume of physical assets without detection. Gold bars aren’t a flash drive. They’re heavy, they’re trackable, and there’s a lot of them here.
Federal investigators have not publicly detailed how long the alleged theft ran or when it was first discovered. The dollar figure – more than $40 million – suggests hundreds of individual bars, depending on weight and market price at the time of removal.
The official’s clearance level, described as top secret, would have granted access to some of the government’s most restricted facilities and programs; what specific program or unit the gold was tied to hasn’t been disclosed publicly.
No trial date has been announced, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether the official has entered a plea.
Originally reported by NPR. Read the original report.
