Washington, D.C.
David Rush, a former senior CIA official with top-secret security clearance, has been accused of secretly storing millions of dollars’ worth of gold bars at his home, claiming he needed them for “work-related expenses,” according to court documents and two people familiar with his employment history.
Rush was charged with theft of public funds in a complaint filed last week in the Eastern District of Virginia. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment. He was also accused of lying to his employers about his background for nearly two decades.
When asked about Rush’s case, a CIA spokesperson stated that the FBI had arrested an individual following a tip from the agency. The case raises questions about the effectiveness of the federal government’s background check process, which is supposed to ensure that intelligence officers or other government employees do not betray the public trust or spy for foreign countries.
The U.S. government conducts background checks on all applicants for positions at the CIA and other agencies with access to sensitive and classified information. Once hired, the government continues to monitor their financial activities, travel, credit history, and other information through automated controls to ensure they are not vulnerable to blackmail.
It was unclear how the investigation into Rush began or when he left the CIA. His home was raided last week. Rush applied to work for the government three times; in his first application, he claimed to have graduated from Clemson University in 2000. In his second application, he added that he had a postgraduate degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
On his third attempt, in 2009, he was successful, and he included those degrees and a flight test from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, according to court documents. In applications for promotion, he claimed to have been a thesis advisor at the Air Force Institute of Technology. Rush also told his employers that he was a Navy pilot. None of this was true, according to the accusations; he did not graduate from those institutions, and investigators say the Federal Aviation Administration has no pilot’s license or certificate registered in Rush’s name.
Between November and March, Rush made several requests for funds, including foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars, according to an affidavit filed in federal court by an FBI agent investigating the case. At a warehouse near his office, investigators found only a portion of the funds. On May 18, federal agents searched Rush’s home and seized approximately 300 gold bars valued at more than $40 million, according to court documents. Agents also seized about $2 million in cash and 35 luxury watches, mostly Rolexes, according to the affidavit, which alleges that Rush knowingly misappropriated some of the money he requested for work-related expenses, taking it to his home for personal gain.
