EPA Official Pretended to Do CIA Missions to Skip Work with Pay

Got away with it for 10 years

A longtime senior official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency admitted to accepting almost $900,000 in pay and benefits for work he didn't do by pretending he was away on missions for the CIA.

John Beale, 64, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Washington to stealing government property. He collected paychecks from about 2000 through this year despite absences from work that he explained by falsely claiming he was on assignment for the Central Intelligence Agency, according to a statement of his offense reviewed in court.