The FBI has announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Monica Witt, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence specialist accused of espionage for Iran. The bureau said Witt, also known as monica elfriede witt, is believed to be in Iran and remains wanted in a case that has stretched across more than a decade.
Daniel Wierzbicki, speaking for the FBI, said Witt “allegedly betrayed her oath to the Constitution more than a decade ago by defecting to Iran and providing the Iranian regime National Defense Information and likely continues to support their nefarious activities.” He added that the bureau “has not forgotten” and believes that “during this critical moment in Iran's history, there is someone who knows something about her whereabouts.”
Witt, 44, served in the military from 1997 to 2008 and then worked as a U.S. government contractor until 2010, according to the FBI. She later allegedly defected to Iran in 2013. A federal indictment in 2019 said she provided sensitive national defense information after having access to secret and top-secret material tied to foreign intelligence and counterintelligence. The bureau said that information included the true names of U.S. intelligence personnel working undercover.
The reward announcement gives new urgency to a case the FBI describes as a long-running national security matter involving the alleged transfer of classified intelligence to a foreign adversary. The bureau said Witt is residing in Iran, speaks Farsi and once worked as both a special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and a contractor with access to information the government considered sensitive and classified.
The FBI said that access could empower the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which it described as having elements responsible for intelligence collection, unconventional warfare and direct support to multiple terrorist organizations targeting U.S. citizens and interests. Wierzbicki said, “The FBI wants to hear from you so you can help us apprehend Witt and bring her to justice.”
Witt was listed by the FBI as a native of El Paso, Texas, standing 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 120 pounds. The question now is not whether the case is active — it is — but whether the new reward and renewed public appeal will produce the information the bureau says could finally locate her.
