Fox News pundit charged with fraud; ties to CIA disputed

He claimed to be ex-CIA and was quoted as an expert on Fox News. Prosecutors say it was a lie. - Wayne Simmons claimed to be able to be something of any American James Bond. on his website AS WELL AS inside official, government documents, he authored The item he was part of a CIA’s “outside paramilitary special operations group,” ALONG WITH This he spearheaded deep cover operations against a few of a world’s many dangerous drug cartels AND ALSO smugglers.

His claims won him frequent commenting gigs with Fox News AS WELL AS government contracting jobs overseas. He even published a good novel — a great spy thriller That seemed to have been drawn by his work.

But In accordance with federal prosecutors, much connected with The item was a lie. inside a good indictment unsealed Thursday, they said Simmons’s claim The item he worked for the CIA pertaining to 27 decades am false. He am arrested AND charged with false statements, greatest fraud against the U.S. AND wire fraud.

The indictment did not right call out Equally fictitious the many operate Simmons claimed to have done, AND indeed, The idea accepted The idea he had won jobs within government contractors overseas. the individual jobs, though, came sole after Simmons “falsely represented ... That he had spent 27 many years logging with ‘Outside Paramilitary Special Operations’ for its CIA,” prosecutors written at the indictment.

Glenn Miller, a CIA spokesman, declined to help comment within this story. Relatives connected with Simmons in case not immediately become reached. He will be scheduled to help appear in court Thursday afternoon.

On his world-wide-web site, Simmons, 62, of Annapolis, claimed he \'m recruited towards CIA because of the Navy, AND he soon became part of your agency’s “Outside Paramilitary Special Operations Group,” leading “Deep Cover Intel Ops against some of your world’s all dangerous Drug Cartels AS WELL AS arms smugglers coming from Central ALONG WITH South American along with the Middle East.” Simmons claimed for the site he was individual your initial “outside Intelligence officers” to be able to Demand U.S. prison within Guantanamo Bay, AND he served as a consultant towards the Bush White House for the Military Commissions Act connected with 2006.

It could possibly help not directly be learned if anyone claims were true.

Simmons was additionally an periodic commentator with Fox News AND inside some other media outlets, typically for the subject involving terrorism. throughout a good 2014 interview throughout Neil Cavuto, intended for example, he criticized the U.S.’s bringing Ahmed Abu Khattala, an suspected ringleader of the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, for you to D.C. for you to face your current costs against him.

The fees against Simmons usually are based largely from his allegedly lying from established government documents in order to carry contracting jobs AND ALSO safety measures clearances.

Prosecutors alleged with the indictment It Simmons am hired In the same way the “Human Terrain process division Leader” for a unnamed government contractor in 2008, AND inside It role, he trained in an U.S. Army facility. He won a interim stability clearance for the job, prosecutors alleged, by “falsely stating The idea he had been recruited on the CIA inside 1973, The idea he had not before been charged throughout or even convicted of an felony offense, The idea his prior arrests IN ADDITION TO criminal convictions were immediately concerning his supposed intelligence operate for the CIA, ALONG WITH That he had stored a secret protection clearance coming from 1973 to 2000.”

Simmons feel hired 3 a long time later from a great other government subcontractor, prosecutors alleged, In line with similar lies. with It role, they said, he are actually deployed overseas for adviser to be able to senior U.S. military personnel.

Simmons \'m likewise charged throughout the apparently unrelated scam of which he convinced somebody for you to Produce a $125,000 actual estate investment throughout him, after that quickly taken the dollars with regard to Personal expenses. Prosecutors alleged This Simmons “used his supposed affiliation from the CIA to be able to bolster his credibility” because of the user whose dollars he took.