A former CIA official was arrested last week after FBI agents allegedly found $40 million worth of gold bars at his home while investigating whether he lied about his educational and military background, according to court records and sources familiar with the matter.
David Rush is currently being held in jail while both his defense attorneys and federal prosecutors “gather and evaluate additional information” to assist the court in determining whether he should remain detained, court filings say. They have jointly requested to postpone his detention hearing until June 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
In a joint statement from the FBI and CIA, both agencies said that Rush was arrested following a referral from the CIA, after an internal investigation identified “potential violations of law.”
The CIA and FBI added they are continuing to investigate the matter.
Jessica Carmichael, a defense attorney representing Rush, declined to comment.
Rush was charged with one count of stealing public money. In an unusual criminal complaint, the FBI accuses Rush of taking the gold bars, “obtaining a fraudulently inflated salary and fraudulently obtaining military leave” and making a litany of false statements about his background. The complaint does not specify exactly what alleged conduct led to the charges.
Between November 2025 and March of this year, Rush allegedly made several requests to the government to obtain large amounts of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses, the complaint says.
Rush’s employer at the time, which sources confirmed was the CIA, was not able to later locate the gold bars or determine their intended use.
When FBI agents searched his home on May 18, they found approximately 303 gold bars, in a value estimated to exceed $40 million, the complaint says. They also recovered $2 million in U.S. currency and 35 luxury watches.
The FBI also accused Rush of lying to the U.S. Navy when he enlisted in 1997 by providing them with transcripts and other records falsely indicating he had earned an undergraduate degree from Clemson University. Because of his ostensible degree, Rush was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy Reserves in 2004 and was honorably discharged in 2015.
The complaint says he then applied for employment with the federal government three times, citing degrees from Clemson University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Naval Postgraduate School. He also listed those schools when he applied for his security clearance.
Later, in 2018, he submitted an application to enter senior executive service and claimed to be a graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, as well as the current director of test for a 145-person, 18-aircraft joint Army/Navy weapons test organization, the complaint says.
“The FBI’s investigation has revealed that Rush’s applications contained false information about his education background and work with the United States military,” the sworn statement accompanying the complaint says, noting that he did not graduate from Clemson or RPI, and never served as a pilot for the Navy.
The FBI also accused Rush of telling the government he was in the Navy Reserves even though he had been honorably discharged, allowing him to claim tens of thousands of dollars in compensation for military leave.