Ex-CIA official charged with stealing millions of dollars in gold bars

The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency is displayed at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., April 13, 2016. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption

A former senior CIA official with top secret-level clearance is accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million from the federal government and stashing them in his home.

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David Rush was arrested and charged with criminal theft of public money last week, according to federal court filings in Virginia, where he lives.

From November to March, Rush requested and received a "significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses," according to an affidavit from an FBI agent investigating the case.

The affidavit says its unclear what Rush intended to use the funds for, but that a portion of it was found in a storage space near his office.

Federal officials searched his home on May 18 and seized more than 300 gold bars with an estimated value of more than $40 million, according to the affidavit. They also seized roughly $2 million in U.S. currency and some 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolexes. Rush was arrested the next day, the FBI said.

The FBI affidavit concludes 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.

The FBI said it was working with the CIA and Department of Justice in its investigation.

Rush's lawyer declined to comment Wednesday.

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It's not clear what role Rush had at the CIA or when he left the agency. He's described in court filings simply as a "former senior executive service-level employee at a United States government agency." Spokespersons for the FBI declined to comment further, and the CIA didn't respond to an email.

The FBI affidavit also notes that Rush appears to have lied for years about his education and military background. The bureau's investigation found he had falsely claimed to be a Navy pilot and that he'd graduated from Clemson University in South Carolina and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.

Instead, they 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. 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.

Rush is being held in custody pending a hearing Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.