FBI cut off for unpaid phone bills

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=83544&in_page_id=34

Friday, January 11, 2008

An FBI surveillance operation was shut down after telephone companies cut its lines for the agency failing to pay its bills.

Wiretaps used to listen on suspected criminals were cut off as the FBI owed companies tens of thousands of dollars.

One company was owed $66,000 (£33,000) and more than half of 990 bills to pay for telecommunication surveillance operations were not paid on time the report said.

 

In at least one case, an FBI wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act operation ‘was halted due to untimely payment’.

‘We also found that payments have resulted in telecommunications carriers actually disconnecting phone lines established to deliver surveillance results to the FBI, reuslting in lost evidence,’ said Inspector General Glenn A Fine in the report.

The report blames the failure on the FBI’s lax oversight of money used in undercover operations, and included another instance when an employee stole £25,000 (£12,000).

But Assistant FBI Director John Miller said wiretaps were only dropped a few times, though he insisted ‘financial mismanagement’ would not be tolerated.

‘While in a few instances, late-payment of telephone bills resulted in interruptions of monitoring, these interruptions were temporary, and in our assessment, none of tho9se cases were significantly affected,’ Mr Miller said in a statement.