{"id":1023,"date":"2026-05-28T05:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T05:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1023"},"modified":"2026-05-28T05:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T05:34:18","slug":"ex-cia-official-charged-with-stealing-more-than-40-million-in-gold-bars-from-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1023","title":{"rendered":"Ex-CIA official charged with stealing more than $40 million in gold bars from government"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(AP) – 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.<\/p>\n

Read more Friend of Phoenix morgue break-in suspect: \u2018This could\u2019ve been prevented\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

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

From November to March, Rush requested and received a \u201csignificant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses,\u201d according to an affidavit from an FBI agent investigating the case.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The FBI affidavit concludes that there\u2019s probable cause to believe that Rush \u201cknowingly embezzled, stole, purloined, or knowingly converted a thing of value of the United States\u201d for his personal use.<\/p>\n

Read more Sticky TikTok trend leaves Phoenix landmark covered in gum<\/a><\/p>\n

The FBI said it was working with the CIA and Department of Justice in its investigation.<\/p>\n

Rush\u2019s lawyer declined to comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear what role Rush had at the CIA or when he left the agency. He\u2019s described in court filings simply as a \u201cformer senior executive service-level employee at a United States government agency.\u201d Spokespersons for the FBI declined to comment further, and the CIA didn\u2019t respond to an email.<\/p>\n

The FBI affidavit also notes that Rush appears to have lied for years about his education and military background. The bureau\u2019s investigation found he had falsely claimed to be a Navy pilot and that he\u2019d graduated from Clemson University in South Carolina and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Rush is being held in custody pending a hearing Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.<\/p>\n

Read more Woman accused in Phoenix-area bank robberies in 2024 now federally charged<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Rush was arrested and charged with criminal theft of public money, according to federal court filings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-CIA official charged with stealing more than $40 million in gold bars from government - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1023\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-CIA official charged with stealing more than $40 million in gold bars from government - 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