A telephone company cut off an FBI international wiretap after the agency failed to pay its bill on time, according to a US government audit released on Thursday. 4 f4 R: c! F! O" \% x$ p6 g
The Justice Department‘s inspector general faulted the FBI for poor handling of money used in undercover investigations, which it said made the agency vulnerable to theft and mishandled invoices.# c" O" ?0 k. q% a# ?' e
It cited the case in which a wiretap under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs electronic spying in terrorism and intelligence cases, was disrupted due to an overdue bill.( u- {" E) }( b7 C$ r! o
"Late payments have resulted in telecommunications carriers actually disconnecting phone lines established to deliver surveillance results to the FBI, resulting in lost evidence," the audit said. 8 K0 b- o5 M- |, EFBI spokesman Richard Kolko said "no investigations were adversely affected." * t+ ~% X+ b4 v" UThe audit cited a 2006 case in which an FBI employee pleaded guilty to stealing more than $25,000 in confidential case funds intended for undercover telecoms services.