A senior former CIA official was arrested by the FBI last week after he was found to be in possession of $40 million worth of gold bars stolen from work.
Former CIA operative David Rush was arrested on May 19 after the CIA alerted the FBI to his actions.
“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 FBI and CIA said in a joint statement.
“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,” they added.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES. A former senior CIA OFFICER has been arrested on MASSIVE FRAUD, STEALING 300 gold bars and secretly stashing them, worth $40 MILLION — and using his position to do so
He had a top-secret security clearance
WOW.
“This was someone given currency [he] said needed… pic.twitter.com/U2N8h8mcp6
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 27, 2026
Court papers reviewed by the Times said that Rush asked for and received “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses.”
But when the CIA sought to determine where the currency and gold were, they wound up being “unable to locate the gold bars or significant amounts of the foreign currency,” according to court papers.
During a subsequent May 18 search of Rush’s home, the FBI found “approximately 303 gold bars, each of which weighed approximately one kilogram,” according to an affidavit reviewed by the Times.
The total value of the gold bars was estimated to be $40 million.
Federal authorities reportedly also seized dozens of luxury watches, including Rolexes.
Former CIA official David Rush was arrested after the FBI reportedly found $40 million in gold bars, $2 million in cash, and luxury Rolex watches during a raid on his Virginia home 👀
Authorities say he checked the gold out through the CIA for “work-related expenses” and never… pic.twitter.com/kjBUsws6nh
— My Mixtapez (@mymixtapez) May 28, 2026
According to NPR, the affidavit states that there’s probable cause to believe that Rush “knowingly embezzled, stole, purloined, or knowingly converted a thing of value of the United States” for his personal use.
Rush is reportedly now being held in jail while he awaits a hearing “on charges of stealing public money by filling out fraudulent time sheets,” according to the Times.
He’s also been charged with inflating his academic credentials by pretending to have graduated from Clemson University in South Carolina and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and fraudulently obtaining military leave by falsely claiming to have been a Navy pilot.
“[T]hey found he had enlisted in the Navy in 1997 and then served in the U.S. Navy Reserves from 2004 until 2015, when he was honorably discharged as a lieutenant,” NPR notes. “The affidavit states he does not appear to have underwent any evaluations as a pilot during that time, and he did not attend either college.”
NBC News points out that Rush’s case “raises questions about the effectiveness of the federal government’s security vetting, which is supposed to ensure intelligence officers or other government employees don’t betray the public trust or spy for foreign countries.”
During hiring, the feds conduct background checks. After hiring, the feds continue to monitor new employees’ “financial activities, travel, credit records, and other information through automated checks to ensure they aren’t vulnerable to blackmail.”
“The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, which falls under the authority of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, oversees the background check program, known as ‘continuous vetting,'” according to NBC News.
“When the program flags a potential problem or anomaly in an employee’s records, officials investigate further. It wasn’t clear how the investigation into Rush began, and it also wasn’t clear when he left the CIA. His home was raided just last week,” the reporting continues.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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