FBI Announces $200,000 Reward for Information on Former Air Force Specialist Indicted in 2019

The FBI announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to the capture and prosecution of Monica Elfriede Witt, a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2019 on charges of espionage. Witt, 47, remains at large more than seven years after the indictment.

According to the Justice Department, Witt served in the Air Force from 1997 to 2008, was trained in the Farsi language, and was deployed overseas on classified counterintelligence missions, including to the Middle East. She later worked as a Defense Department contractor until 2010.

Her service and contracting work gave her access to secret and top secret information, including details on foreign intelligence and counterintelligence as well as the true names of U.S. intelligence community undercover personnel.

Witt traveled to Iran in 2013 after accepting invitations to two all-expense-paid conferences. The Justice Department stated that before the trips the FBI had warned her about her activities. According to prosecutors, Witt told agents she would not provide sensitive information about her work if she returned to Iran.

The indictment states she placed sensitive and classified U.S. national defense information and programs at risk.

The indictment alleges that after her 2013 travel to Iran, Witt intentionally provided information that endangered U.S. personnel and their families stationed abroad. It further alleges she conducted research on behalf of the Iranian regime to help target her former colleagues in the U.S. government.

The reward announcement was made on May 15, 2026. It was not immediately clear why the FBI chose to publicize the reward now. The reward applies to information leading to her capture and prosecution. No publicly released evidence has documented Witt's current location or activities since the 2019 indictment.

The vessels' operators have not been publicly identified by the U.S. government in connection with this matter. Iran's foreign ministry has not commented as of the date of the announcement.