A LOOK INTO CIA THROUGH EYES OF EDWIN WILSON

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100150081-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 29, 2012
• Sequence Number: 81
• Publication Date: June 29, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ST Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100150081-9
cN Flies S ,
A Look Into CIA
Through Eyes of
Edwin Wilson
THE WASHINGTON POST
29 June 1982
formed Maritime Consulting in Wilson was also allowed to keep,
Washington, D.C. Its purpose was to another company he organized, Cqn?
provide a means for Wilson to gather sultants International. He said he
information on Soviet shipping and initially put up his own money, wr
other matters of Interest to the CIA. the idea that the CIA would reim
But the consulting firm was also a burse him later. Instead, "I got writ-s
bona fide business, with three or ten permission to keep it" when`h#
four employes. Did they know it was left the agency, Wilson said.
a CIA operation? "After a while, Several months later, the Nary
they would know," Wilson said. asked him to run one of its own 4-
"They would be cleared and briefed, cret proprietaries for Task Forae',-
but not told too much." 157, gathering worldwide informax'
Wilson put his CIA budget of tion. He thinks the name of the coal
$75,000 to $100,000 a year to good pany was World Maritime, "or some'"
use, and soon the business was thriv- thing like that." o.
ing. Meanwhile, he was dabbling suc- Of one thing he was certain:'"F-
cessfully in the Washington area's never made a fortune in Task Force
. 111,
booming real-estate market. He ' 157. In fact, the job cost me money.
bought a 16-acre farm in Virginia I took time out as a patriotic duty; to
and fixed it up. He also bought up help them out because they were
mortgages from servicemen who really floundering." ? ,,
were reassigned out of Washington. Wilson left the Navy in 1975. ,
Tempted to get off on his own, was making money in real estate.a 4,'
Wilson resigned from the CIA in ship charters. Then he threw in )WU.
1971. The agency gave him a "a guy I'd met at a party by
$25,000 bonus, evidently in the ex- name of Frank Terpil," another..px.-,
pectation in mihe would keep "the nd as he wheeled CIA int. That's when Wilson.
and dealed in the international busi- troubles started. The deal invdvet.
shipment of explosives to Qaddp&.
new world.
The Horatio Alger
Using the bonus and profits from hero had gone.
from riches to frags. ``
the We of properties, Wilson Put Footnote: Wilson is now WQrkb;
$60,000 down on a 500-acre farm in more than $10 million in real estates
the posh Virginia hunt country of here and abroad, incorporations, and,
Upperville. Over the years, the es- in Swiss bank accounts. His.,big:
tate has' grown to more than 3,000 :n .,.ue., 1 11 1.e om.; +?
A unique view into the subterra-
nean operations of the Central In-
telligence Agency has been provided
by a renegade agent, Edwin Wilson,
who was lured out of Libya by a ruse
into the Justice Department's wait-
ing arms.
He now faces charges of smuggl-
ing weapons and running a terrorist
school for Libyan dictator Muammar
Qaddafi. But before he left his sanc-
tuary, he talked freely about his life
in the CIA. The exclusive taped in-
terview was arranged by my associ-
ates Dale Van Atta and Indy Badh-
war.
Wilson told how he worked for
the Seafarers International Union
while he was on the CIA's payroll.
But he said there was "no double-
dipping." The agency took into ac-
count his union salary and deducted
it from his CIA pay. He had to file
two separate income tax returns.
In the mid-1960s, Wilson was as-
signed to set up a CIA proprietary, a
legitimate business that could be
used as a cover for intelligence gath-
ering. He left the Seafarers and
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/29: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100150081-9