WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- The FBI is grappling with a growing number of senior officials leaving their posts for double and triple the pay in the U.S. private sector.
Since Friday, two senior FBI officials have resigned, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.
Friday, the FBI announced the departure of Gary Bald, head of the bureau's newly formed National Security Branch, who is taking a job with a cruise line. He had held the FBI position for just eight months.
Tuesday, Bank of America announced it had hired Chris Swecker, the bureau's acting executive assistant director.
Earlier this year, Louis Reigel, who headed the cyber-crime division, retired to join a food service company.
Under questioning Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Robert Mueller said money was the root cause for the loss of talent, the newspaper said.
The pay scale for an assistant director tops out at $165,000, a sum that can easily be doubled or tripled in the private sector.
Mueller said despite the departures, the bureau still has a "strong bench" of seasoned counter-terrorism experts.
