A former senior CIA officer with top secret-level clearance has been charged with stealing public money, according to court documents and people familiar with his employment history, NBC reported on Thursday.
David Rush, who held a management role, was charged last week in the Eastern District of Virginia with criminal theft of public money.
His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
According to an FBI affidavit, Rush requested large sums of money between November and March, including foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars.
He allegedly told officials the funds were needed for work-related expenses. Investigators later found only part of the funds in a storage space near his office.
On May 18, federal agents searched Rush’s home and seized about 300 gold bars worth more than $40 million, court documents said.
Agents also recovered approximately $2 million in US currency and 35 luxury watches, according to the affidavit.
The filing alleges that Rush knowingly took some of the money he requested for official use and moved it to his home for personal gain.
The court documents did not identify the agency where Rush worked, but two people familiar with his employment history said he was employed by the CIA. One of those people said most, if not all, of the funds, including foreign currency and gold, were recovered.
In a joint statement, the CIA and FBI said the arrest followed an internal CIA investigation.
“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 statement said.
“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.”
The case could draw scrutiny of the federal government’s security vetting system, which is designed to detect financial irregularities and other risks among employees with access to sensitive or classified information.
The US government conducts background investigations before granting intelligence and national security employees access to classified material.
After employees are hired, officials continue to monitor financial activity, travel, credit records, and other data through a program known as continuous vetting.
The program is overseen by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency under the authority of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
It remains unclear how the investigation into Rush began or when he left the CIA.
The affidavit also accuses Rush of lying for years about his education and professional background.
Prosecutors said Rush applied for government employment three times.
In his first application, he claimed he had graduated from Clemson University in 2000. In a later application, he added that he had earned a graduate degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
When he successfully applied in 2009, Rush again listed those degrees and also claimed to have completed an aircraft test at the US Naval Test Pilot School, according to court documents.
In later promotion applications, he allegedly said he had served as a thesis adviser at the Air Force Institute of Technology and told employers he had been a Navy pilot.
Investigators said those claims were false. According to the charges, Rush did not graduate from the schools he named, and the Federal Aviation Administration had no pilot certificate or license registered to him.
The investigation is continuing.
