Former Oak Ridge National Laboratory Employee Sentenced To Federal Prison For Acting As A Foreign Agent And Making False Statements

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - On June 17, 2026, Portia Anyamba, 59, currently of Knoxville, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville.

As part of a plea agreement entered with the Court, Anyamba pleaded guilty to one count of acting as an agent of the Republic of South Africa in violation of Title 18, U.S.C. § 951, and one count of making false statements in her security clearance application in violation of Title 18, U.S.C. § 1001.

An investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Nashville Field Office and the United States Department of Energy Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence revealed that Anyamba, a former Brigadier General in the South African Air Force, was acting in the United States under the direction and control of the Republic of South Africa and provided materially false statements in connection with her efforts to obtain a security clearance. Anyamba was sentenced to serve six months' imprisonment, to be followed by two years of supervised release. As a component of her sentence, she was also ordered to pay a $9,500 fine.

According to plea documents filed with the Court, in 2023 and 2024, Anyamba worked as a Program Management Operational Specialist in the National Security Program Office at Oak Ridge National Laboratory ("ORNL"). ORNL is a unique facility located in the Eastern District of Tennessee that was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project and is currently a United States Department of Energy facility dedicated to energy, innovation, and national security, among other things.

During the course of the investigation, FBI agents learned that Anyamba regularly communicated with an intelligence officer - identified in Court documents as "IO-1" - working for the Republic of South Africa's State Security Agency ("SSA"), i.e., the South African Government's civilian intelligence agency. IO-1 was known to the FBI as the SSA's then-Deputy Chief of Station and former Acting Chief of Station at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C.

In February 2024, IO-1 communicated with Anyamba and arranged a meeting to occur in Knoxville, Tennessee. FBI agents surveilled the planned encounter and watched as Anyamba met with IO-1 and another individual known by the FBI to be affiliated with the Republic of South Africa. Although the group originally met at a restaurant in a Knoxville commercial district, they soon drove to a nearby hotel. After the meeting, Anyamba left the hotel and returned to her residence, where FBI agents watched her retrieve an item from her car and take it into her house.

Thereafter, Anyamba and IO-1 planned another encounter in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to the meeting, IO-1 instructed her: "Please remember to also bring the laptop with!" On November 7, 2024, in Knoxville's Turkey Creek shoppoing district, FBI personnel intercepted Anyamba immediately prior to her planned meeting with IO-1 and retrieved a laptop computer from her custody.

While under the control of foreign agents, Anyamba was in the midst of her application process for a United States Government security clearance, which, if granted, would have provided her access to certain classified information. As part of that application process, she certified and submitted a form attesting to certain information. The form, known as an "SF-86" form, advises applicants that the provision of false information may result in criminal penalties.

Among other things, Anyamba certified that she had no continuing contact with a foreign national and that she had not had contact with representatives of a foreign government in the past seven years. Court documents state that, knowing her answers to be both material and false, Anyamba answered "no" to both questions. She also contacted individuals she listed as references and told them: "I have just gotten information that they have started with the interviews. They are sensitive about foreign connections. So please don't mention anything about the embassy."

"Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a uniquely important Department of Energy facility," said United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III. "Our Office and our law enforcement partners will remain diligent in ensuring that its employees - and all government personnel entrusted with access to sensitive information - are trustworthy, candid, and pose no risk to national security. We are committed to protecting the Laboratory and supporting the important work it does for our nation."

"Anyamba knowingly acted as an agent of a foreign country which placed national security at risk," said Terence G. Reilly, Special Agent in Charge, Nashville Field Office. "All across the country, each and every day, the FBI and our strategic partners will continue to work together to review intelligence and investigate threats to our national security in order to protect our citizens from foreign and domestic attacks."

"This successful joint investigation highlights the benefits of the strong relationship between DOE Counterintelligence and the FBI Agent in the Lab program," said Joshua D. Martineau, Deputy Director Counterintelligence, Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyle J. Wilson and Casey T. Arrowood of the Eastern District of Tennessee prosecuted the case with the assistance of Trial Attorney Nicholas Hunter of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

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