Booz Allen fires employee who says he leaked information about surveillance programs

McLean-based Booz Allen Hamilton has fired an employee who claimed to be the source of leaked information about secret U.S. surveillance programs.

In the a statement, the company said 29-year-old Edward Snowden was fired Monday for “violations of the firm’s code of ethics and firm policy.”

In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, Snowden revealed he was the source for a recent series of articles disclosing National Security Administration programs that collected telephone and email records from millions of customers.

On Tuesday, Booz Allen confirmed that Snowden was an employee for less than three months, assigned to a team in Hawaii. He was paid at a annual rate of $122,000.

“News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm,” the company said. “We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter.”

According to news reports, Snowden, who is from Maryland, previously worked for the CIA and NSA.

He was interviewed by the Guardian in Hong Kong, but had checked out by Monday and whereabouts were unknown, the Los Angeles Times reported.