2 Florida men are accused of stealing millions from trust fund for people with special needs
Federal authorities this week unsealed an indictment charging Leo J. Govoni, 67, of Clearwater, and John Witeck, 60, of Tampa, with multiple counts including mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted on all counts, they face decades in prison.
The case involves one of the nation's largest administrators of special needs trusts, which are designed to manage funds for people with special needs.
The Center for Special Needs Trust Administration in Clearwater, which Govoni co-founded 25 years ago, managed more than 2,000 accounts containing about $200 million for people in Florida and around the nation. Clients were promised that the nonprofit would protect and invest their money, prosecutors say.
But Govoni and Witeck, an accountant who worked with Govoni, used the nonprofit as a 'slush fund' to enrich themselves, court papers state.
Govoni is accused of using money from the nonprofit to travel on private jets, pay living expenses for his friends and family and live a lavish lifestyle 'complete with luxury boxes at Tampa Bay Buccaneers games and the Kentucky Derby,' prosecutors said in court records.
No lawyers for Govoni or Witeck are listed in court files. Two lawyers listed as representing Govoni in a separate bankruptcy case did not immediately respond to phone and email messages requesting comment on Tuesday. A third lawyer who has represented the nonprofit in the bankruptcy case didn't immediately respond to messages.
Prosecutors accuse the men of concealing the fraud through complex financial transactions, and sending fraudulent account statements with false balances to people with special needs and their families.
The nonprofit filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and 'disclosed that more than $100 million in client-beneficiary funds was missing from its trust accounts,' federal prosecutors said in a statement announcing the indictment.
'The fraud alleged in this nationwide scheme is unfathomable," U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe said in the statement.
The case was investigated by numerous federal agencies, including the FBI, the IRS and the Social Security Administration.
'Not only were the organization's resources drained, but the accused subjects betrayed the trust of the community and ultimately bankrupted a lifeline for vulnerable families," said Jose Perez, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division.
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The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
Bailey, Bongino tag team FBI leadership role
President Trump is bringing in backup at the FBI, installing a staunch legal ally in a newly created leadership post. Andrew Bailey, Missouri's attorney general, is joining the Justice Department as co-deputy director of the FBI — a position he'll hold alongside Dan Bongino, a longtime backer of the president whose role in the administration has become more tenuous as it grapples with Jeffrey Epstein fallout. As Missouri's top prosecutor, Bailey positioned himself as a warrior for conservative causes, mounting challenges to abortion rights, Big Tech, student loan forgiveness and more. Last year, he took the Biden administration to the Supreme Court over its 'vast censorship enterprise,' asserting that federal officials violated the First Amendment by urging platforms to remove posts they deemed false or misleading. The justices denied the challenge brought by Bailey by finding he did not have legal standing, leaving the First Amendment issues untouched. Bailey also came to Trump's defense as the president faced criminal prosecution. Following Trump's conviction last year on 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan, the Missouri attorney general sued New York, saying the prosecution stepped on the rights of his state's voters. He asked the Supreme Court — which has exclusive jurisdiction over legal disputes between two or more states — to block Trump's sentencing and a gag order until after the 2024 election. The justices rejected the plea. 'As Missouri's Attorney General, he took on the swamp, fought weaponized government, and defended the Constitution,' Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was Trump's attorney in the hush money case, said Monday of Bailey. 'Now he is bringing that fight to DOJ.' It's not the first time Trump has made Bailey couple up. Trump last year endorsed both Bailey and his primary opponent, Will Scharf, as they competed to become Missouri attorney general. Scharf was one of Trump's personal attorneys, and after losing to Bailey, he joined Trump's White House as staff secretary. You may recognize Scharf as the person who now hands Trump executive orders to sign in the Oval Office. It's not apparent how Bailey's responsibilities at the FBI will be newly split with Bongino, but the appointment of a co-deputy director seems to minimize Bongino's role. It comes amid reported tensions surrounding Bongino over the administration's handling of the Epstein files. Bongino, like dozens of right-wing internet figures, was on the front lines of conspiracy theories about Epstein, the disgraced financier who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. After the Justice Department last month issued a joint memo stating Epstein did not have a client list and confirming he died by suicide, Bongino erupted. Several news outlets reported he weighed resigning over the handling of the matter and raged at agency leaders, including Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump told reporters last month that he still has confidence in him. Bongino's path to the FBI looked very different than Bailey's. A right-wing podcaster, Bongino was tapped as the sole deputy FBI director in February after spending years as one of the bureau's loudest critics. His career began in 1995 with the New York Police Department, and years later, he joined the U.S. Secret Service, where he eventually was placed on presidential protective duty for former Presidents George W. Bush and Obama. After leaving the Secret Service in 2011, he launched several failed political campaigns before his career as an internet provocateur took off. Despite their different paths, both Bongino and Bailey have something in common. Neither has previously worked for the FBI, breaking the tradition of selecting someone who has risen through the agency's ranks. Welcome to The Gavel, The Hill's weekly courts newsletter from Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld. Click above to email us tips, or reach out to us on X (@ByEllaLee, @ZachASchonfeld) or Signal (elee.03, zachschonfeld.48). IN FOCUS Could TikTok kill Trump's national security legal defense? Two former Supreme Court advocates for the government warned Monday that the Trump administration's efforts to defend itself in court by pointing to national security could face an unexpected hindrance: TikTok. The Gavel joined judges and lawyers in Chicago on Monday at the annual conference for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Though Justice Amy Coney Barrett was pegged as a headliner, she spoke for less than three minutes that evening, opting to shy away from politics. The afternoon conversation between former Solicitors General Elizabeth Prelogar and Paul Clement proved more interesting. Prelogar and Clement pointed to the China-owned social media behemoth as reason Trump's legal defense might falter. In January, the Supreme Court upheld a law requiring TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the app or face a ban from U.S. app stores. The law was passed amid concerns the Chinese government could access Americans' data or manipulate the short-form video app's content algorithm to execute a covert influence operation. Clement, solicitor general during the younger Bush's second term, noted that Congress addressed the high-profile issue by pointing to the 'national security imperative to do something.' The statute was defended in part on that basis. 'But then the national security imperative, I guess, wasn't quite as imperative,' Clement said. Despite the high court's decision to let the law go into effect, the Biden administration said it would not enforce it ahead of Trump's inauguration. Trump has since kept enforcement on hold. 'I do think that that could have some long-term consequences when the administration, in subsequent cases, comes up to the Supreme Court and says, 'We really need to do something extraordinary for national security,'' Clement said. Prelogar, who was former President Biden 's solicitor general and argued the case for his administration, agreed. She called it a 'rare event' to litigate a 'seminal' Supreme Court decision to victory and see no 'real application' immediately. The president's decision to let TikTok remain operative, despite the national security risks expressed by the previous administration and Congress, could have consequences. 'Not only did the government make those arguments, but the court arguably relied on them, which could come back to haunt the government as it seeks to get the court's deference on national security issues going forward,' she said. The Trump administration has repeatedly pointed to national security as the president's sweeping agenda has faced legal challenges, namely in four Big Law firms' bids to deem illegal Trump's executive orders targeting them. Clement represents the law firm WilmerHale in its lawsuit. The conversation came amid the pair's review of the Supreme Court's major decisions this term — some argued by Prelogar herself. They spoke to a jam-packed ballroom in a hotel near Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Of the TikTok case, Prelogar said it was one of few her two sons watched closely. But when her 14-year-old son's friends asked 'which side' she would argue, he 'froze,' she joked, not willing to expose his mother's role in restricting the platform. 'There wasn't a ban,' she jokingly insisted. The Supreme Court advocates also commented on the justices' increasingly bloated emergency docket, especially now as challenges to Trump's sweeping agenda reach the high court in troves. They noted that the influx of emergency applications has not only changed the 'rhythm' of the court — but also the office of the solicitor general. 'There's a night and day difference in how the office functions,' Prelogar said. Clement suggested that his office filed only a 'couple' emergency applications during the younger Bush's presidency. Prelogar said she thinks the Trump administration has already filed as many emergency applications as she did in her four years in the office. 'And I felt like I was doing a lot,' she said. Trump pursues voting machine war as Newsmax settles Trump is returning to his war on mail-in ballots and voting machines ahead of next year's midterms, signaling plans to sign a new executive order that would ban them. 'Remember, the States are merely an 'agent' for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes,' Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. 'They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do.' Meeting with Ukraine's president in the Oval Office hours later, Trump doubled down on his push. The order's text remains to be seen, but if it's anything like what Trump has described, expect Democrats to challenge it. 'The President almost certainly has no authority to dictate how states conduct their elections, and his proposals run counter to the Constitution's Elections Clause,' New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D) said in a statement. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) responded similarly when we asked him for comment, noting that mail ballots are the top choice for voters in the key swing state. 'Nevada runs safe, secure elections and we will stand up against any attempts to silence the voices of our citizens,' Aguilar said in a statement. Trump's announcement came the same day that Newsmax announced it will pay voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems $67 million to settle its lawsuit over the conservative channel's 2020 election coverage. It's the latest sum for Dominion, which two years ago secured an eye-popping $787-million settlement from Fox News over its coverage. The president has long declared war on mail ballots and voting machines, asserting unfounded accusations that they sparked widespread voter fraud in his 2020 loss. More than four years later, Trump has continued to press the issue in his second term, supported by allies like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. In an interview with The Gavel last month, Lindell was bullish about getting rid of voting machines. 'Mike wants to melt down the electronic voting machines and turn them into prison bars. That's what Mike wants, and that's what Mike's going to end up getting, is these machines will be gone,' Lindell told us. He was spotted at the White House the next day. Trump's forthcoming order appears to be the president's latest front on voting ahead of next year's midterms, when Republicans hope to maintain their control of both chambers of Congress. The president signed an executive order in March that asserts greater presidential control over elections and seeks to institute strengthened proof-of-citizenship requirements. That order has come under five lawsuits, and judges have halted portions of Trump's directive as the litigation proceeds. And in recent weeks, Trump has pushed Texas Republicans to commence a redistricting effort that would add several Republican-leaning seats. NFL will inch coach lawsuits closer to SCOTUS The NFL is inching two major lawsuits brought by coaches closer to the Supreme Court. 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Gruden's lawsuit claims the NFL engaged in a 'malicious and orchestrated campaign' to force his resignation, and he seeks the remainder of his 10-year, $100 million coaching contract. Nevada's high court ruled that Gruden is not bound by the NFL's forced arbitration provision since he is no longer an employee. Chief NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told The Gavel, 'We will be appealing the decision.' The NFL was handed another loss Thursday, when a 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled Brian Flores and other Black coaches' discrimination claims against the NFL and three teams — the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and New York Giants — can proceed before a jury. Th 2nd Circuit took issue with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell 's power under the league's rules to serve as arbitrator. The panel found the Federal Arbitration Act, a century-old law that enables parties to enforce arbitration agreements, doesn't apply because Goodell's role makes it 'arbitration in name only.' 'Accordingly, the agreement betrays the norm of bilateral dispute resolution,' the panel ruled. Though the disputes aren't heading to the Supreme Court quite yet, the NFL is already involved in one case pending before the justices. The NFL filed a friend-of-the-court brief backing the NBA in its bid to end a lawsuit filed by one of its online newsletter subscribers who claims the NBA violated federal law by disclosing his data. The justices will consider taking up the case at their first closed-door conference of the upcoming term, court records show. SIDEBAR 5 top docket updates Bondi walks back MPD memo: Bondi on Friday walked back her push to install an administration official as the emergency commissioner of the District of Columbia's police department under pressure from a federal judge. CFPB dismantling can resume: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday lifted an injunction that had long blocked the administration's efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The new ruling is on hold for one week. O'Rourke fundraising block expanded: A Texas state judge on Friday expanded his order limiting former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) and his political group from funding state Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block a redistricting push. Alligator Alcatraz suit narrowed: A federal judge Monday partially dismissed Alligator Alcatraz detainees' lawsuit that raises concerns about attorney access. Some of the migrants' constitutional claims are proceeding, but the judge said they must be transferred to a different judicial district. Dem states sue over crime victim funds: Democratic attorneys general from D.C. and 20 states sued Monday over the administration's bid to condition federal funding for crime victims on cooperation with immigration enforcement. In other news Oops: A Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court judge accidentally relayed a 'not guilty' verdict as 'guilty.' He apologized for the 'mispronunciation.' Watch it here. Bye bye, Big Apple: Ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani 's penthouse in the Upper East Side has sold for $4.95 million, a significantly discounted price. The property was nearly seized by two ex-Georgia election workers who won a $146 million defamation judgment against him, but he was allowed to keep it as part of a settlement reached earlier this year. ON THE DOCKET Don't be surprised if additional hearings are scheduled throughout the week. But here's what we're watching for now: Today: A federal judge in South Carolina is set to hold a motions hearing in a man's defamation lawsuit against Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) over a House floor speech in which she accused him of being a predator. The judge will hear arguments over whether to dismiss the case, allow discovery and other matters. A federal judge in Rhode Island is set to hold a preliminary injunction hearing in a lawsuit brought by Democratic states over the Trump administration's extension of a law's requirements for states to verify a person's legal status before allowing them to access certain federal programs, including Medicaid. Thursday: A federal judge in Georgia is set to hold a preliminary injunction hearing in a campaign finance case involving gubernatorial candidates Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Chris Carr, the state's attorney general. A federal appeals court panel in San Francisco will hear arguments on the Trump administration's bid to overturn a judge's order requiring various agencies to turn over documents they used to plan mass layoffs. Friday: No notable hearings scheduled. Monday: A federal judge in Washington, D.C., will hold a hearing to assess the Trump administration's efforts to comply with his order to restore Voice of America 's operations. Tuesday: A federal judge in Washington, D.C., is set to hold a hearing on new developments in a lawsuit challenging the Department of Government Efficiency's cost-cutting efforts at the Department of the Interior and environmental agencies. WHAT WE'RE READING Abigail Adcox, Amanda O'Brien and Christine Simmons: In Trump's Battle With Big Law, Has Leverage Shifted?
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
How to outfox financial scammers
While financial scams have always been around, the variety of schemes that scammers employ to steal money are easily proliferated these days with the internet, social media, AI and crypto. Frauds and scams ranked No. 6 on the list of top consumer complaints last year, according to a recent report from the Consumer Federation of America. And the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center found that financial losses from cybercrime alone last year reached $16.6 billion – a 33% increase over 2023, with the vast majority of those losses coming from fraud. The average reported loss was $19,372. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission noted that there was a more-than-four-fold increase between 2020 and 2024 in the number of reports of older Americans (age 60 and up) who said they'd been scammed out of $10,000 or more. The increase among those reporting that they'd lost over $100,000 was nearly seven-fold. Some people 'reported emptying their bank accounts and even clearing out their 401(k)s,' according to the agency. Common schemes How can that happen? Any number of ways. And it's not just those over 60 who are susceptible. 'Any type of scam can happen to anyone,' said Emma Fletcher, senior data researcher in the consumer response division of the FTC. Imposter scams, where criminals masquerade as a trusted government agency or business, are among the most common. Whereas in the past a lot of scams tried to trick you into giving out your financial account numbers, many now seek to persuade you to move your money from one of your accounts to another type of account the scammers can access. 'The scams generally involve someone contacting consumers to alert them to a fake and urgent problem and then proceeding to try to persuade them to transfer their money to 'keep it safe' or for some other false reason,' the FTC said. Among the lies they might tell: Your Social Security number is linked to serious crimes. They're calling about suspicious activity on your account. Or you're in trouble with the law and have to post bond. Or they may offer something that is too good to be true, like easy money for a simple task. In exchange, they will ask you to pay something up front. Among other types of imposter scams are: Tech support scams: These can take the form of a pop-up security alert or audible alarm on your computer, purporting to be from Microsoft or Apple. The message might be that your computer has been hacked, and it will include a number to call for help. Sometimes the criminals will tell you they need to get remote access to your computer to fix something. Prize and sweepstakes scams: It's never the victim's lucky day when a scammer, posing as a representative of a sweepstakes or lottery entity, contacts you and tells you that you have to pay money to get your big prize. Telltale signs of a scam To help spot a potential financial scam, keep an eye out for common red flags: A government agency or company contacts you out the blue and makes threats and demands. There are currently imposters even pretending to represent the FTC itself. The FTC notes it 'will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize.' The same is true of any reputable business or government agency. You're told to go to a bitcoin ATM or make a bank transfer. Last year, the FTC found that 33% of older adults who reported losing $10,000 or more to an imposter scam said cryptocurrency was the method of payment requested, while 20% said they were asked to make a bank transfer and 16% said they were told to pay in cash. The most typical crypto payment involved sending someone to a bitcoin ATM, which some scammers may refer to as a 'safety locker,' Fletcher said. A case reported by CFA, for instance, involved a scam caller telling a consumer they were 'under arrest for failing to appear in court and was in contempt for missing jury duty. They insisted that the consumer needed to post bond, and the sheriff could not accept a check or credit card. Instead, the scammer directed them to a federal kiosk, specifically a Bitcoin ATM.' You're told to buy gift cards to pay the scammer: Another type of scheme has victims go to one or more stores to buy gift cards and then share the unique numbers and pin with the scammer. Reduce your odds of getting scammed There are several ways to reduce your chances of being swindled. Do not engage. When you get an unsolicited call, text, social media message or email – or you get a strange warning alert on your computer – don't respond. Do not call the numbers suggested nor click on any links offered. Instead, if you're concerned it may be legitimate, call the actual entity the person contacting you claims to be from and do so by looking up that entity's real number and website yourself. 'Stop and verify. If it feels urgent, if they're rushing you and creating alarm, and you weren't expecting that contact, go directly to the company or agency that they're claiming to be and check it out,' Fletcher said. Never move money on demand. If you do end up engaging, a clear sign something is wrong is that you're told you have to move money fast. You may be told you have to transfer money out of an account that has been compromised in order to 'protect it.' Or to send money to get yourself out of some sort of (fake) trouble. No legitimate business, government agency or law enforcement entity would require this. Never pay money for the promise of getting more money. Anything financial that sounds too good to be true usually is. And that's especially the case when you're being told you need to pay something upfront to get something desirable in return (e.g. a commission, a job, prize winnings, etc.) Don't assume you're too smart to be duped. A scammer can catch anyone at a particularly vulnerable moment. For example, you might already be in a heightened emotional state when you get a call or text; or the focus of the scam may pertain to something you were just dealing with – e.g., you may have recently driven through a number of tolls when a scammer sends you a text about unpaid tolls. 'For each of us there is a scam that can get us at just the wrong moment,' Fletcher said. 'The scammer hijacks your ability to think things through clearly.' Make liberal use of the 'Block Caller' and 'Report Junk' functions on your phone: Getting a call or voicemail from a number you don't recognize should be blocked. The same goes for unsolicited texts and social media messages. And, the FTC warns, don't necessarily trust your caller ID function either, as scammers have been known to 'spoof' it – meaning they can falsify the information sent to your caller ID display. If you've been scammed It can happen to anyone. If it happens to you, take steps to minimize your losses and help stop the scammers from victimizing others. Here is an FTC resource page that offers steps you can take if you think you paid a scammer or if the scammer has access to your personal information or to your computer. But, generally speaking you'll want to let your bank and/or other relevant entities such as the credit bureaus or gift card issuers know immediately. To minimize your losses, 'Time is of the essence,' Fletcher said. You also might want to consult a consumer law attorney who specializes in consumer rights and consumer fraud to see what your next best steps are. Then report your scam to the FTC at To prevent others from falling prey to the same type of scam, share your story with people you know. 'Pass on what you know. Research supports that word of mouth is the top way people hear about scams,' Fletcher said. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Former FBI Agents Are Exposing The Wildest Secrets They Can Reveal Without Killing Us, And Holy Crap
As an avid Criminal Minds-watcher, I've always wondered what it was actually like to work as an FBI agent. A while back, Reddit user mr_squirell asked, "FBI/CIA agents of Reddit, what's something that you can tell us without killing us?" Here's what they said: Note: Obviously we can't confirm all of these stories, but these people are supposedly speaking from their own experiences as alleged government employees. 1."I worked with a woman who was a former NSA. We would always beg her to tell us stuff, but she never did. The one thing she did say, though, was that during training, they show them a video of a bunch of things they've found out about and stopped. She said she hardly slept for two weeks after watching that." —jseego 2."My dad worked for GCHQ in the '80s doing voice recognition, and he can't say anything more for another decade. The technology used that lets Siri and Alexa recognize you today was also being used in the '80s... Just a bit slower..." —arabidopsis Related: 3."I was an analyst, not an agent/officer. 85% of all classified material is classified because of how it was collected, not because it is juicy/useful. Yes, your boss and co-workers said that stuff about you." —ben70 4."We are all told never to use sites like Reddit. Social media in general is pretty much a no-go." —Throwaway93ee90299 5."An ex-Company man once told me that the movie Get Smart was more accurate than James Bond." —spiff2268 6."I talked with some CIA recruiters towards the end of college and almost applied earnestly after a large group Q&A and then a much smaller one. The thing that stuck out to me was that the guys said most CIA agents are out of shape and have limited combat training with guns or hand-to-hand. They made it clear that it's the military that uses force. If confronted, they were trained to immediately surrender or to drop their bags and run if possible." —dring157 Related: 7."If you go through the FBI interview process, it takes a while. Chances are, you're going to have to spend some time working on crimes against children, which is really tough, and most people don't want to do it." —thermobollocks 8."My dad worked for the government, and he told me that any time he had a meaningful interaction with someone who wasn't American (i.e. going over to my friend's house for Lunar New Year or going on vacation to Canada), he had to report it all, and if he saw anything suspicious." —AudiKitty "Yep. I went through a clearance upgrade and got asked about a couple of people that I know through friends who I didn't include on my paperwork and if I knew their background." —derpyfox 9."I worked with the Australian Federal police with the spider squad doing 'computer stuff' for them in regards to pedophiles and finding trafficking victims. It was the most heartbreaking work, but when you got the pedophiles, the office looked like NASA after a Mars landing." —dr_m_a_dman "I don't know if I'm allowed to say, but a mentor who definitely wasn't supposed to tell me used to be a white hat for the FBI. Apparently, all he did was search for pedophiles by tracking child sexual abuse images. He said he didn't stay for very long because it was messing with his mental health." —mastershow05 10."My spouse is an FBI agent. One of the things they had to do at the FBI Academy was go to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC. The lesson was what can happen if you blindly follow orders without ever questioning the morality/intent behind them. I found that pretty compelling, and I was glad to hear that it's part of their training." —bukunothing Related: 11."Not an FBI or CIA officer, but my sister is a district attorney, and over the years, she has prosecuted a number of animal-cruelty cases. This led to her having an ongoing partnership with the FBI for the last several years. It turns out the FBI started tracking animal abuse cases about 10-15 years ago due to the incredibly high correlation between abusing animals when you're young and becoming a serial violent offender as an adult." —TheDongerNeedsFood 12."I have a relative who retired from the NSA a few years ago. She has talked about a few things in generalities, nothing specific. Among them: Alcoholism in general is rife in the agency. When you cannot speak to anyone outside the agency about your work, it becomes nearly impossible to confide in anyone close to you. Even if you have close work friends or family, you have to be careful what you say because not everyone is read into every program. Two people can sit next to each other in the same office, working on the same subject for months, and never talk about it with each other, even though they're close friends outside the agency. So people turn to the bottle. Her husband worked for a different government agency and also had a Top Secret-SCI clearance, but she couldn't talk about her work with him (nor could he with her, but his didn't involve the intelligence community)." —NetworkLlama 13."Want to work for them? Prepare to do a fair amount of paper work. The form will ask for each of your employer's contact information, contact information of friends, your history of addresses, etc. They will then send an agent to interview a number of these people. Next, you have to take a psychological exam and be interviewed by a psychologist. Finally, you'll have one last interview with a polygraph and a professional lie detector." —Sw0rDz 14."The agency employs psychiatrists who are cleared to be read into almost any program. Going to them, though, is often seen as a mark of shame among other agency employees, so they are not used nearly as often as they should be." —NetworkLlama Related: 15."Properly secret programs and operations are never named in any way that indicates what they are actually about. They're generally just two words chosen at random and that would rarely come up in normal conversation, stuff like 'Cracked Gorilla' (which I just made up off the top of my head)." —xxkoloblicinxx 16."I applied to be an accountant at the FBI out of college. On the first or second page of the application, it asks if you have ever done any illegal drug. Not wanting to lie, I said yes, and it immediately ended the application process. It's shocking to me that there are so many FBI agents, and absolutely none of them have ever smoked weed." —scotchglass22 finally, "Anyone who is a US citizen can apply to join the CIA. It isn't that hard. If you have any kind of degree in computer science, statistics, engineering, or accounting, and don't have anything that would mess up your getting a clearance, getting a job would be relatively easy there. Working at the CIA is far more boring than you would think." —Intrepid-Client9449 Responses have been edited for length/clarity. So, to all the former FBI and CIA workers out there. What are some other secrets you can share about the job? Let us know in the comments below. Or, if you prefer to remain anonymous, share your submission in the form below. Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds:
