A top Environmental Protection Agency member who posed as a spy for the CIA so he could get out of work will receive his sentencing on Wednesday for defrauding charges.
64-year-old John C. Beale reportedly defrauded the United States government out of almost $1 million, according to Philly.com. As one of the EPA's senior officials on climate, he allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of bonus and travel expenses, in addition to not showing up for work for a year and a half.
In one instance when Beale disappeared for 18 months, higher-ups inquired after his location. He told them he was in Pakistan or "Langley,"-the codename for the intelligence agency's headquarters.
An NBC report revealed that Beale said his presence was necessary at the facility because the Taliban was performing cruel and unusual physical acts on his "replacement."
The prosecution has classified this crime as one of "massive proportion."
Beale reportedly wrote to EPA worker Gina McCarthy concerning his whereabouts.
"Due to recent events that you have probably read about, I am in Pakistan," he said in an email to McCarthy on Dec. 18, 2010. "Got the call Thurs and left Fri. Hope to be back for Christmas...Ho, ho, ho."
But Beale wasn't involved with the CIA in any way - in fact, it appeared Beale hadn't even been to the agency's headquarters in Virginia.
"He's never been to Langley," EPA investigator Patrick Sullivan told Philly.com. "The CIA has no record of him ever walking through the door."
Soon, information surfaced that the time Beale said he spent in Langley was actually passed in Northern Virginia, at his house. He rode bicycles, read books, cleaned the house and vacationed on Cape Cod - all the while, he was still getting paid. He even held a lavish party on a yacht in 2010.
Beale earned about $206,000 a year in payment and benefits.
McCarthy eventually found out about Beale's endeavors, after she attended the party.
He pleaded guilty and will pay a restitution fee of almost $1.3 million.
