JEWEL THEFT CREATES PROBLEMS FOR HELMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100230006-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 23, 1998
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: August 2, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

FOIAb3b X
Sanitized'- Approved F ~Ty~
?TEAPOOL F S 1:1E
CIA c~.~Vrw.li HOME
1?Y
ii urr VY~. .J
CPYRGHT
Tofte's study, they found CIA matter to th' police because
papers. of CIA implications.
"On Sunday, 24 July, 1960. It Is reported that Tofte
the material in question was ,as learned the identity of
removed from my premises! the CIA security officers who
under agency (CIA) supervi- ! were in his home, and has
By CLt ZK MOLLENIOFF
sign," Torte informed .police.jturned those names over to
w.::,.' : ' _:Uiv, :j.~_: - ,,,e ,U' ..,u.~ ...a.. ' emporarily absent. The ma-
in Jew;... , ._ , e come of a high ranking officer of tl: ferial was being guarded by
Central Intel. ;once -'-ency (CIA) is creating major pro.- I my mother-in-law. Personnel
lems for CIA Director Richard Helms. !,unknown to me at the 'time
Hans V. Torte, 55, orrjer Mason City, Iowa, business-,.of this writing entered my
man, now a C_._ officer, has reported to police the theft; home, managed to distract
of $20,000 a amord and sapphires from his home on the attention of my mother- Itegic Services obtained U.S.
July 23 or 24.
in-law, and roamed the :cause ,..tizenship in 1943
.~:f:: ..rt . d wife, &,r1ys, formerly of Anoka, Minn., I
told an insurance investiga-
tor that Mrs. To'"a's -jewels'
were stolen during the same
period that CIA security of-
ficers were in their home at
1667 Thirty Fifth . Street
,
N.W., Washington, %~.C., or. 1Tofte's valuable jewelry were
a security check involvi,.,missing from the premises,"
ad CIA papers that Tofte h Tofte stated.
taken home.
"It had been taken there
by me for the purpose of
homework," Tofte reported
to police. "This is customary
for executives and senior
personnel in key positions
,
? tensive questioning'-of a
as well as employes of cer- i d
r
f
tain ranks and responsibili-
ties."
TWO' ? C,1 A investigators,
posing as a.man and woman
trying to rent or buy a home,
entered the Tofte home on
Je1y 23, while he and his wife
e-.::-law of Tofte,. to permit
thcr. to look. around.
w,; away. They persuad?.. fence Houston in view of the
On the third floor, in
TLeft
several days during which he
was quest' cmed. repeatedly.
He saw i3arnes on Thurs-
day, July 23, fora brief noon
'tt
:.ut d 'or $25;C00 'because'
that is abotu all she wears or''
1 a,; out. at any one time.
reetn3 ; and was permf cu. .
`o consult with Houston In
'he late afternoon of Friday,
July 29.
;'' WAS reported
. iends o be "outraged" a
e fact .:.;.t the CIA had in- I
'laded %:c .:care and had br--
Sanitized - Approved For Release x 35 __QM R000100230006-6
for a period of time. No war- Tofte was a key figure in
rant or other official. identi-" he planning and staging of
fication was displayed at the j
time." .ile successful CIA opera-
tions in Guatemala. He took.
. "I found later that the CIA part in the planning and ar-
material, some private and rangements for the Bay of
personal property, and Mrs. Pigs, but was one of t +ose
BEFORE Tofte had re-
turned home to learn that
the CIA documents and jew-
i elry were missing,. he was
contacted by CIA personnel,
investigators and was es-
corted to the CIA headquar-
ters at Langley, Va., for ex-
group o
invest gators Lai, e
the supervision of a "Mr.
Hank Shor" who was not
further identified.
"I requested to see my,
chief supervisor, Mr. Tracy
Barnes, and later the agen-
cy's legal counsel Mr. Law-
bizarre circumstances sur-
rounding the proceedings," Tofte told police. -
Although Tofte tw a s a
$25,000-a-year officer with a
close personal relationship
with Helms, Barnes, , and
Tofte, born in Denmark,
was a member of the Danish
underground, worked with
British commandos, and after
a tour in the United States
Army in an Office of Stra- I
against it in"the light of what
he considered poor prepara-
tions and morale of Cuban
refugee groups who were to
take part. .
TOF rE HAS been in-
formed by his superiors thati
:here was no evidence that
he had "compromised" any.
of the CIA papers in hisl
possession. However, he has
been informed that having
classified agency papers in i
his home represented a vio-
lation of agency rules that
could be grounds for dis-
charge.
Tofte has indicated he
tends to fight any discharge
effort, and he has also
served notice that he wants
"the best insurance investi-
gators in the business" to
trace down the '$20,000 in
jewelry. , .
The $20,000 in jewelry is
reported to be a part of
about ' $100,000 in, jewelry
Mrs. ?Tofte ow _s. It is in-
="` see Barnes or Houston for