The investment banker who claimed trillions were missing from the US budget

Cultures · Published 11 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: From managing multi-billion dollar bond sales to investigating massive government discrepancies, Catherine Austin Fitts has moved from the heights of Wall Street to the center of intense financial controversy. Her allegations of unauthorized spending and shadowy diverted funds have challenged the very transparency of American institutions.

Catherine Austin Fitts built a formidable career in finance before entering public service. After earning her MBA from the Wharton School in 1978, she joined Dillon, Read & Co., where she became the first woman promoted to managing director in the firm's 156-year history. During her tenure, she pioneered a novel municipal bond sale in 1982 to fund the New York Subway System, using rider fares as backing.

In the George H.W. Bush administration, Fitts served as the Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Housing. Tasked with repairing the department following the savings and loan crisis, she noted a significant lack of oversight, including a $30/billion mortgage insurance portfolio managed by only one certified actuary. She implemented reforms to sell foreclosed homes at a 50-percent discount to non-profits to increase housing stock.

Fitts' career later became defined by her allegations of large-scale government fraud. In 2017, alongside economist Mark Skidmore, she co-authored a report claiming to identify $21 trillion in unauthorized spending by the Department of Defense and HUD over a 17-year period. She has further alleged that HUD's resources are diverted into unaudited 'black budget' programs for national security agencies.

These claims have been met with intense scrutiny. In 1997, an investigation by the FBI and SEC into her firm, Hamilton Securities, concluded in 2002 with no evidence of wrongdoing. While her theories on diverted wealth have gained traction in alternative media, mainstream reports, such as those from The Washington Post, have characterized her pandemic-era claims as unfounded.

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