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American in Ecuador accused of being faker

On a routine official visit to meet with foreign military commanders in the southern Ecuador city of Cuenca in late April, Army Col. Robert Gaddis and his team of U.S. liaison officers met a man who introduced himself as retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James A. Becker.

Over beer, then dinner, Becker told stories so dazzling that, to Gaddis, they began to sound suspicious, then outrageous, then untrue. His claims also caught the attention of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which has launched an investigation.

It is unclear how long Becker has lived in Ecuador or why he moved there. Attempts to contact him via e-mail and telephone were unsuccessful.

Becker’s alleged claims of being a high-level operator so soured and alarmed Gaddis, director of the U.S. Military Group in Ecuador, that he alerted the State Department and the Ecuadorian armed forces. His fear is that Becker has used bogus claims to manipulate the Ecuadorian military or attempted to influence U.S. policy in the region.

Later that night, Gaddis dug into Becker’s record online. The first thing he discovered: Becker is no Marine general, a fact easily confirmed on a public website maintained by the Corps. The Marine Corps was unable to confirm Becker’s alleged service.

Becker also allegedly told Gaddis he’d been director of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the request of retired Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whom Becker described as a close personal friend.

Again, information about former DIA directors available on the DIA’s public website revealed that claim to be untrue, and a spokeswoman for Shalikashvili denied he knew Becker.

“He definitely is not a personal friend of General Shali’s nor does [the general] even know of his existence,” Rachel McLain told Marine Corps Times.

NCIS opened its case after Gaddis sent his alert through embassy channels.

“NCIS is looking into allegations made,” said spokesman Ed Buice. “The first step in any such query is getting to ground truth of what has actually been said by whom, in what context and for what possible purpose, and determining whether those statements being made actually broke any laws.”

Claims rang false

During their April 19 dinner in Cuenca, Becker allegedly claimed he had led the Marine detachment that took part in Desert One, the failed attempt by a joint force of special operators, including a small group of Marine helicopters, to rescue American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on April 24-25, 1980, Gaddis told Marine Corps Times.

Becker next claimed that his detachment was deployed from Iran directly to Lebanon and was there when the deadly bombing of the Marine barracks took place, Gaddis said.

When Becker allegedly said he had been in Afghanistan running operations with the CIA, supporting the efforts against the Soviets before being reassigned as the consul general in Mumbai, India, Gaddis said he called him on it. Becker then changed the subject.

Gaddis said it would be highly unlikely that someone in that position would be transferred from a State Department job to a Defense Department job.

Gaddis said Becker’s mousy appearance defies the typical Marine Corps physique, even an aging one. Becker, he said, had allegedly claimed he used his position as a retired U.S. military officer and an officer in the Cuenca Rotary Club to gain access to the highest military leadership of Ecuador’s 3rd Division.

The most urgent concern, Gaddis said, is that Becker has passed himself off as someone who, even unofficially, represents the United States and that he may have tried to shape U.S. policy on sensitive international matters.

His fear was fueled by Becker’s alleged claim that he had been influential in bringing mercenaries and resources to the country’s northern border to fight Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas, a group known as FARC, through “his personal contacts” with top U.S. administration officials, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and former President Clinton, Gaddis said.

Becker also allegedly told Gaddis that he used his status as a retired general to attempt to influence the issuance of visas at the U.S. consulate in Guayaquil, Gaddis said. Attempts to reach the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador were unsuccessful.

On phonies list

Becker has been listed in the POW Network’s phonies index since 2006 when Mary Schantag, the organization’s co-founder, received an e-mail from a Navy veteran in Punta Gorda, Fla., claiming that Becker was passing himself off as a retired four-star Marine general and POW escapee.

Becker also boasted he was the godson of legendary Marine Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, said Atwell Suman, a retired chief petty officer who served from 1963 to 1995.

Suman and some of his retired military friends contacted Schantag. Through a Freedom of Information Act request with the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Mo., she discovered Becker had no military record.

Schantag reported Becker to the FBI in 2006 and reported him again following the reports contained in Gaddis’ e-mail from Ecuador.

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Staff writers Monica Parkzes and Brendan McGarry contributed to this report.