Podcast | Risk Takers Series #1 The Aldrich Ames Espionage Case

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what it is about your business that is truly valuable? When you really think about it, any business with a product or service has something a competitor or adversary could use. And if you’re being honest, you probably haven’t fully considered all the ways they might get their hands on that information. You’ve spent years building your business, but all it takes is one bad day to compromise that dream. In this week’s episode Brent sits down with FBI Special Agent (Ret.) and engineer Terry Fisher to discuss corporate espionage, electronic countermeasures (sweeps), bugging, and the common methods bad actors have used throughout history to gain access to proprietary information.

Dell Spry, a former FBI investigator and counterespionage expert, sits down to discuss the biggest case of insider theft in U.S. History: The Aldrich Ames Case. Hear how he, along with the help of the CIA, and the fellow FBI agents used their cunning, hard work, and old fashioned investigative work to capture and convict most infamous CIA officer-turned traitor: Aldrich Hazan “Rick” Ames. Beginning in 1985 the CIA experienced the unparalleled loss of its of Soviet assets, which nearly destroyed the government’s ability to gather intelligence on the Soviet Union. In this interview Mr. Spry discusses his personal involvement in the case as the FBI’s lead investigator including many of the investigative methods they used. Hear never before details about the harrowing investigation to not only investigate and convict the highest ranking government official ever accused of spying, but to protect future Russian assets. In 1991, the quest led them to search for a Soviet spy in the CIA. They came to identify that spy as CIA Case Officer, Aldrich Hazan “Rick” Ames, a long-time CIA case officer and analyst. In February of 1994, Ames was arrested by the FBI and sentenced to life in prison.