A CIA official has been arrested after law enforcement authorities found hundreds of gold bars and millions of dollars in cash in his home, according to court documents.
David Rush, who is no longer with the CIA, was taken into custody after an investigation found that he had requested tens of millions of dollars in gold bars and foreign currency for work-related expenses.
Investigators could not locate most of the currency or any of the gold bars, prompting the FBI to carry out a search warrant on Rush’s house in Virginia, according to charging documents.
FBI agents on May 18 seized approximately 303 gold bars, with an estimated value exceeding $40 million, around 35 luxury watches, and about $2 million in U.S. currency, a special agent told the federal court in Alexandria.
Rush has been charged with theft of public funds, which could land him in prison for up to 10 years if convicted.
Rush appeared in federal court on May 22 and pressed to be released on bond. A magistrate judge ordered him held for now.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for June 5.
An attorney representing Rush did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
The CIA and FBI told The Epoch Times in a joint statement that Rush was arrested after the CIA referred the case to the FBI.
“After a CIA internal investigation identified potential violations of the law, CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred the information to the FBI for a law enforcement investigation,” the statement said.
“The FBI is working closely with our partners at the CIA and the Department of Justice as we continue to investigate this matter fully. We are committed to following the facts, ensuring accountability, and pursuing justice in accordance with the law.”
The charging documents described Rush as a former senior employee at a U.S. government agency with top-secret clearance and access to classified information.
They said that when Rush applied to the government for employment, his listed background included graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and serving as a pilot in the U.S. Navy. Investigators learned he had never attended the institute, and found no evidence that he worked as a Navy pilot.
Investigators said that between November 2025 and March 2026, Rush requested that the government provide him with “a significant quantity of foreign currency” and gold bars for work-related expenses, and that his requests were granted.
A review of the storage space where Rush had an office, though, only uncovered a portion of the currency, and none of the gold bars. Investigators asked the government for records regarding the disposition of the currency or gold bars, but the government could not locate any.
That led to the execution of the search warrant on Rush’s home and his arrest.