CIA official allegedly stole $40 million in gold bars for ‘work-related expenses’ after lying on resume

The FBI arrested a high-level spook last week who was sitting on a veritable treasure trove of allegedly purloined gold bars and cash, altogether worth tens of millions of dollars.

The bureau characterized David Rush in a May 20 federal court filing as a “former Senior Executive Service level employee at a United States government agency” with top secret compartmented information clearance and access to classified information. Sources familiar with the investigation spelled it out further, telling the New York Times that he was, up until recently, a senior CIA official.

‘A C.I.A. internal investigation identified potential violations of the law.’

According to the affidavit, there is probable cause to believe that between 2009 and this month, David Rush “knowingly embezzled, stole, purloined, or knowingly converted a thing of value of the United States or received, concealed, or retained the same with intent to convert it to his use or gain, knowing it to have been embezzled, stolen, purloined, or converted, including by obtaining a fraudulently inflated salary and fraudulently obtaining military leave, the value of which exceeded $1,000.”

Rush allegedly made several requests to the federal government between November 2025 and March 2026 to obtain a boatload of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for “work-related expenses.” The affidavit claims that Rush successfully obtained the gold and cash.

A review of the storage space at the government site where Rush had an office turned up only some of the riches the spy had acquired, according to the affidavit. The government apparently was unable to locate the remainder of the cash and bullion or any record of Rush “providing information to his employer regarding the disposition of the currency or gold bars.”

The mystery of the missing treasure was apparently solved on May 18, when the FBI raided Rush’s home in the Eastern District of Virginia.

RELATED: DOJ mysteriously drops case against Israeli linked to Chinese fraudster’s creepy alleged biolab

CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

Federal agents reportedly seized roughly 303 gold bars, each weighing a kilogram. At the time of writing, a kilo of gold was valued at around $144,900 — meaning that Rush was allegedly sitting on over $43 million in gold alone. Agents also reportedly seized roughly $2 million in U.S. currency and 35 luxury watches, many of which were Rolexes.

Besides allegedly purloining a galleon-load of treasure, Rush has been accused of lying about his credentials and fudging military leave information on his official time sheet.

Citing findings in the FBI’s investigation, the affidavit claims that Rush submitted multiple applications for government jobs “containing false information about his education background and work with the United States military.” Contrary to his statements, Rush allegedly never attended Clemson University or the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; wasn’t a pilot for the Navy; and does not have a Federal Aviation Administration certificate or pilot’s license.

“After a C.I.A. internal investigation identified potential violations of the law, C.I.A. Director John Ratcliffe referred the information to the F.B.I. for a law enforcement investigation,” the CIA and FBI said in a joint statement.

The FBI arrested Rush on May 19.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!