Former CIA officer accused of stealing 300 gold bars
A former senior CIA officer with top-secret clearance has been accused of hiding millions of dollars in gold bars at his home, claiming the money was needed for “work-related expenses,” according to court documents and two people familiar with his employment history.
David Rush, who held a management role, was charged last week in the Eastern District of Virginia with theft of public money.
Rush is also accused of lying about his background for nearly two decades. A joint CIA-FBI statement said CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred the matter to the FBI after an internal investigation uncovered possible legal violations. The FBI said it is continuing to investigate alongside the CIA and the Justice Department.
The case raises questions about the federal government’s security vetting system, which includes continuous monitoring of intelligence employees’ finances, travel and credit records through a program overseen by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.
It remains unclear how the investigation began or when Rush left the CIA. His home was searched last week.
Rush applied for government jobs three times. In his first application, he claimed he graduated from Clemson University in 2000. In his second, he added a graduate degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. On his third attempt in 2009, he was hired and listed those degrees along with an aircraft test from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, according to court documents.
In promotion applications, he said he had served as a thesis adviser at the Air Force Institute of Technology and told employers he had been a Navy pilot. Prosecutors say none of the claims were true. Investigators say Rush never graduated from the schools, and the Federal Aviation Administration has no pilot’s license or certificate registered to him.
From November through March, David Rush made several requests for funds, including foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit filed in federal court. Investigators found only part of the funds in a storage space near his office.
On May 18, federal agents searched Rush’s home and seized about 300 gold bars worth more than $40 million, about $2 million in U.S. currency, and 35 luxury watches, mostly Rolexes, court documents said. The affidavit alleges Rush knowingly took some of the money he requested for work-related expenses to his home for personal gain.
The filing did not identify Rush’s employer, but two people familiar with his employment history said he worked for the CIA.
