vault backup: 2026-05-15 13:15:53

20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Future Enterprises.md

@@ -8,15 +8,33 @@ tags:
   - Washington_DC
   - 1980s
 category: "Private Organization"
-summary: "Future Enterprises was a company linked to The Finders that provided software training for CIA employees."
+summary: "Future Enterprises was a Washington D.C.-area computer training company associated with The Finders that provided software training to CIA employees during the 1980s. The CIA confirmed this relationship in 1993, characterizing it as an incidental procurement arrangement; investigators described it as evidence of a direct organizational link between the CIA and The Finders."
+location: "Washington, D.C."
 ---
-Future Enterprises was a company linked to [[The Finders]] that provided software training for [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] employees. The connection between Future Enterprises and the intelligence community emerged during the 1993 Department of Justice inquiry into CIA involvement with The Finders and a potential [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] coverup of the group's operations.[^1]
 
-The Washington Times published an article in December 1993 citing both the U.S. Customs memo compiled by [[Ramon J. Martinez]] and Metropolitan Police Department reports. The article reported that a Metropolitan Police document dated February 19, 1987, quoted a CIA agent as confirming that the agency was sending personnel to a Finders Corp., Future Enterprises, for training in computer operations. This direct admission of CIA personnel receiving training at a Finders-related company established an operational link between the intelligence community and the group.[^1]
+Future Enterprises was a Washington D.C.-area computer training company associated with [[The Finders]] that provided software training to [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] employees during the 1980s. The existence of this business relationship was confirmed publicly in 1993 by CIA spokesman David Christian, who stated: "CIA sent some employees to a company called Future Enterprises, Inc. for computer training in the nineteen eighties." Christian denied that the company was a CIA front or that it was "in any sense owned or operated by anyone for the CIA."[^1]
 
-An employee of Future Enterprises named [[Robert Garder Terrell]] was identified as a member of [[The Finders]] who had been let go in February 1987. The timing of his departure coincided with the intensification of law enforcement scrutiny following the arrests of Finders members in Florida. Terrell's dual role as both an employee of a CIA training contractor and a member of The Finders suggested that the company may have functioned as a corporate front for the group's activities.[^1]
+### Organizational Connection to The Finders
 
-The role of Future Enterprises within The Finders' operational structure appeared to involve technical training and infrastructure management. The warehouse raided by U.S. Customs in February 1987 contained a room full of networked computer equipment with a satellite link on the roof, and the duplex house contained additional computer facilities. The telex messages found on these systems detailed international communications, including instructions for moving children across jurisdictions and purchase orders for children in [[Hong Kong]]. The CIA's use of Future Enterprises for computer training raised questions about whether the agency was aware of these activities or whether the training arrangement provided cover for intelligence personnel to access the group's facilities.[^1]
+[[Robert Gardner Terrell]], a certified public accountant and former IRS appeals officer who served as [[The Finders]]' principal spokesman and financial manager, was associated with Future Enterprises as a computer trainer. The CIA's characterization of his role was "part-time accountant." Terrell's own accounts described computer training work.[^1]
+
+Vice president **Joseph Marinich** confirmed in contemporaneous reporting that CIA employees received training at the company during the 1980s.[^1]
+
+An MPD report filed February 19, 1987 by Sgt. John H. Stitcher Jr. described a CIA official confirming that the agency was sending personnel to "a Finders Corp., Future Enterprises, for training in computer operations." The phrase "Finders Corp." in this document represented a direct institutional identification of Future Enterprises as a Finders corporate entity, though the CIA's public position maintained the connection was incidental.[^2]
+
+### Infrastructure Context
+
+The physical infrastructure of The Finders' properties and the technical capabilities implied by the Future Enterprises training relationship were related in investigators' assessments. The warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE and the Glover Park duplex both contained extensive networked computer equipment with satellite dish antennas. [[Ramon J. Martinez|U.S. Customs Agent Ramon J. Martinez]] found [[Stuart Miles Silverstone]] inside a satellite-equipped computer room at the Glover Park duplex during the February 1987 raids. Telex messages on the group's systems referenced international contacts and included what Martinez described as communications relating to children in multiple countries.[^2]
+
+Whether CIA employees who received computer training at Future Enterprises had any operational contact with The Finders' broader activities through this arrangement has not been established in accessible primary sources.
+
+### The 1993 DOJ Investigation
+
+The Future Enterprises connection was a central element of the 1993 Department of Justice and FBI reinvestigation of The Finders, prompted by congressional pressure from Representatives Tom Lewis (R-FL) and Charlie Rose (D-NC). Reporter Paul M. Rodriguez of the *Washington Times* published the key investigative article on December 17, 1993, citing the MPD document identifying Future Enterprises as "Finders Corp."[^1] The *U.S. News & World Report* contemporaneous investigation also cited the CIA training relationship as one of three documented overlaps between The Finders and the intelligence community, alongside [[Isabelle Pettie]]'s CIA employment and [[George Pettie|George Pettie's]] work for [[Air America]].[^1]
+
+The DOJ inquiry concluded without criminal charges. The CIA maintained its characterization of the training relationship as an incidental procurement arrangement.
 
 ### Footnotes
-[^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.
+
+[^1]: Witkin, Gordon, Peter Cary, and Angel Martinez. "Through a glass, very darkly: Cops, spies and a very odd investigation." *U.S. News & World Report*, December 27, 1993 / January 3, 1994. Also: Rodriguez, Paul M. "CIA tied to cult accused of abuse; Justice probes links to Finders." *Washington Times*, December 17, 1993.
+[^2]: Martinez, Ramon J. U.S. Customs Service Reports, February 7, 1987 and April 13, 1987. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/ted-gunderson-fbi-the-finders. Also: FBI Vault, "The Finders," vault.fbi.gov/the-finders (released November 2019).