The FBI has announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of Monica Witt, a former U.S. service member and counterintelligence agent accused of spying for Iran. Witt was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia in February 2019 on espionage charges, including transmitting national defence information to the Iranian government, according to the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
According to the FBI, Witt served in the U.S. Air Force from 1997 to 2008 as an intelligence specialist and special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. She later worked as a U.S. government contractor until 2010. Her roles gave her access to secret and top secret information relating to foreign intelligence and counterintelligence, including the real names of undercover U.S. intelligence personnel.
U.S. authorities allege that Witt defected to Iran in 2013 and subsequently provided information to the Iranian government, putting sensitive national security programmes and personnel at risk. She is also accused of carrying out research on behalf of the Iranian authorities to help them target former colleagues in the U.S. government. The FBI said her defection benefited Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which it said includes elements responsible for intelligence collection, unconventional warfare and support for organisations targeting U.S. citizens and interests.
Witt remains at large. According to U.S. media reports, she is believed to be living in Iran, speaks Farsi and may be using aliases including Fatemah Zahra and Narges Witt.
“Monica Witt allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution more than a decade ago by defecting to Iran and providing the Iranian regime National Defense Information and likely continues to support their nefarious activities,” said Daniel Wierzbicki, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division.
“The FBI has not forgotten and believes that during this critical moment in Iran’s history, there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts,” he added.
Anyone with information on Witt’s whereabouts has been asked to contact the FBI.
Source: skynewsarabia
