1981-1991: CIA Uses BCCI Bank to Pay 500 British Informants

In 1991, the Guardian will report that for at least the past ten years, the CIA has secretly had nearly 500 Britons on its payroll and has been paying them through accounts at the criminal BCCI bank. Some are in senior positions, although no specific individuals are named. Some of these informants have told the CIA details about British arms sales and other overseas business deals, sometimes before the contracts are finalized. According to intelligence sources, the informants include:
124 people in government or politics.
53 in commerce, industry, and banking.
75 in academia.
24 scientists.
124 in communications.
90 in the media. [Guardian, 7/26/1991]
There will be no report of these informant contacts stopping after the BCCI scandal in 1991.