FBI IS SCAM VICTIM -- IN A SCAM PROBE

The plot is from the files of our very own FBI, but it reads like the script of a television sitcom -- or perhaps a movie starring Eddie Murphy.

Seven years ago, the FBI was intent on getting to the heart of what it believed was high-level corruption within a trade union. That belief was, at least in part, supported by one William Russell, who said he had inside information that would help the FBI in its case.

For reasons that aren't particularly clear yet, the FBI believed this informant. They put hidden microphones under his clothing and sent him to see top union officials in the hopes the union leaders would take a $10,000 bribe.

The informant did everything the FBI asked him to do. In the end, he delivered tape recordings of conversations that the union folks had, indeed, taken the bribe. So the FBI went along with Russell's demands for considerable amounts of money.

For example, the FBI paid Russell $113,000 in "living expenses" over a 14-month period. During that time, it can be supposed, Russell gave the FBI enough information to make it worth their while. After all, that rate of pay comes close to $10,000 a month. Not bad, even for a union job.

Russell, of course, said he needed the extravagant payoffs, because the union officials he was dealing with expected him to have a certain lifestyle that included expensive tastes.

There was just one small problem: Russell's efforts as an undercover informant apparently were part of a ruse -- and a good-paying scam at that. In addition to the $113,000 in "living expenses," he also apparently kept the $10,000 that was supposed to change hands as a bribe.

All of this is alleged in criminal charges that now have been filed against Russell.

And not only did the FBI spend at least $123,000 on Russell, it has tallied up another $176,000 in expenses to pay for the ongoing investigation based on Russell's bogus information.

So some informants are -- how shall we say it? -- not exactly honest fellows. What's the big deal?

The big deal is this: We're talking about the FBI, an agency of some clout that should know a scam when it sees one. After all, isn't that what they do for a living?

By the way, the money the FBI spent on all this was our money.