A senior CIA officer stashed more than 300 bars of gold at his home, according to court documents, and was found to have lied about his background for decades. David Rush reportedly said the bullion was needed for "work-related expenses," but was charged with criminal theft of public money in Virginia's Eastern District. His lawyer isn't talking and the authorities don't have an awful lot to say yet either.
"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 CIA and FBI stated in a joint press release. "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."
From November through March, Rush made several requests for funds, including for 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.
There's no word on when the investigation into Rush began, or what triggered it, or if he was exposed in the course of investigating something else. NBC News reports that he is no longer with the CIA, that his home was raided last week, and that he was found to have lied on his job application, falsely claiming to have degrees from Clemson University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and service records with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force. The gold, along with $2m in U.S. currency, was found in storage and at his home, and valued at more than $40m.
Intelligence insider found public and personal property blurring before him.
Jose Irizarry, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, used his position as a special agent to divert approximately $9 million from undercover DEA money to himself and co-conspirators, receiving bribes and kickbacks worth at least $1 million in return. He got 12 years in prison. Harold Thomas Martin III, a contractor for the National Security Agency, got nine years in prison over top-secret documents and records from the NSA, U.S. Cyber Command, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the CIA found at his home; an unusual defence of undiagnosed autism and hoarding disorder did not save him from a lengthy custodial sentence.
John Taylor, a civilian employee of the Department of Defense assigned to the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command in Japan, nicked $106,000 and landed in prison for 12 months.
If you're seeing a correlation here, $40m in gold bars suggests authorities may be in no rush to let Rush out if they can convict.
