A former high-ranking CIA official who allegedly lied about his credentials to secure $77,000 in bogus military leave was caught after FBI agents found a mind-blowing fortune, including $40 million worth of gold bars, hidden inside his Virginia home.
David Rush’s home was raided last week by the feds, uncovering a staggering 303 gold bars, $2 million in cash and nearly three dozen luxury Rolex watches, according to court documents.
Rush, until recently a “senior executive service-level employee” at the CIA, reportedly requested the massive haul of gold and foreign currency for “work-related expenses” between November and March.
When the agency conducted a routine audit, the assets were missing from official custody, prompting the CIA director to refer the matter to federal investigators.
The FBI said in a statement: “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 FBI is working closely with our partners at the CIA and the Department of Justice as we continue to investigate this matter fully,” the statement continued.
Before last week’s raid, federal officials checked a storage space in Rush’s office that he used to store work-related funds.
“But only a portion of the currency he received remained in the storage space,” according to the court affidavit.
Rush is currently only charged with inflating his college resume and scamming the government out of military leave pay after he allegedly falsely claimed to be a member of the Navy Reserve.
According to the affidavit, Rush fabricated much of his background on his way to securing a senior executive service role in the federal government.
While Rush enlisted in the Navy in 1997, he was honorably discharged in 2015 and after he never enlisted in any other branch of US military, the court documents state.
After his Navy discharge, Rush allegedly falsified active Captain status to receive $77,000 in unearned military leave while drawing an inflated executive salary.
He also claimed he received a mathematics degree from Clemson University and an electrical engineering master’s from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, but registrars found no record of him.
Rush additionally alleged to have certifications from the U.S. Air Force and Naval Test Pilot Schools; however, FAA and military files reveal he lacked a pilot’s license, serving instead as an IT technician, among other roles.
He is currently being held in federal custody.