Paramilitary agents for the CIA’s super-secret Special Activities Division, or SAD, perform raids, ambushes, abductions and other difficult chores overseas, including infiltrating countries to “light up” targets from the ground for air-to-ground missile strikes. This week the government acknowledged for the first time that some of SAD’s sensitive air operations were swept up in a fraud conspiracy that reached the highest levels of the CIA and cost the government $40 million.
That information was contained in a series of court filings released in advance of the long-awaited sentencing of Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo, the disgraced former No. 3 official at the CIA.
One remarkable affidavit came from a leader of SAD, a branch of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, which handles covert actions. It indicates that Foggo forced SAD to use a shell company set up by defense contractor Brent R. Wilkes to handle its sensitive air operations, even though Wilkes and his company had no experience in clandestine aviation operations.
Wilkes was Foggo’s boyhood friend and a co-conspirator in the bribery scandal that erupted around former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who is serving more than eight years in federal prison.
The sentencing documents make for interesting reading:
In addition to the vacations listed above during the time frame o f the scheme, the
documents and items obtained in the investigation indicate that Wilkes treated Foggo to
additional trips. From June 19-27, 2000, the Wilkes and Foggo families, and J.C., went on a
vacation to Hawaii, which included two scuba diving trips totaling $4,619; over $5,000 in meals;
and over $7,000 in hotel costs which were charged to Wilkes’s credit cards. Of these expenses,
$4,074 were attributable to the Foggos. Foggo paid for his rental car and other personal
expenses totaling $923.91. From June 21, 2001 to June 27, 2001, Wilkes paid for a vacation for
the Foggo and Wilkes families to Orlando, Florida, and New York City including: over $17,000
in private jet flights; over $11,000 for a stay at the Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge; nearly $800
in limo fees; over $3,000 in meals; over $10,000 for a stay at the Plaza Hotel in New York City;
and $1,230 for a hotel stay in D.E. for the Foggo family. Wilkes paid a total o f $43,854. Of
these expenses, $22,541.91 were attributable to the Foggos. The documents and records reflect
that over the course of the entire trip, Foggo charged his credit card $204 for what appears to be
transportation in Florida, and $212.14 at a bar in New York.
