Ex-US government official arrested after $40 million in gold bars found in home A former US government official has been arrested after FBI investigators found hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million (£29.6 million) in his Virginia home. David Rush made several requests to the US government to receive the bars for “work-related expenses” over the past year, according to court documents. He has been charged with criminal theft of public money in a complaint filed last week. According to the New York
Times, Rush held a senior position in the CIA up until recently. He was arrested and is being held in detention until his hearing this week. His attorney declined to comment. Agents also uncovered about $2 million (£1.5 million) in US currency in Rush’s home, along with 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolexes. Rush, who court documents say had top secret clearance and access to classified information, has also been accused of lying about his education and military service when applying for his government
job, and fraudulently taking military leave with thousands of dollars in pay. Rush is a former senior executive in a US government agency in Virginia, court documents state. Asked about Rush’s case, the FBI said in a written statement that it arrested an individual on 19 May following a referral from the CIA. “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 FBI said. Between November 2025
and March 2026, Rush made several requests to the US government “to obtain a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses”, which he later received, court documents state. During a review, the CIA “was unable to locate the gold bars or significant amounts of the foreign currency”, court documents state. The government was also unable to locate “any record of Rush providing information to his employer regarding the disposition of the currency or gold bars
that he received for work-related purposes”. The FBI then executed a search warrant for Rush’s home in Virginia on 18 May. During the search, FBI agents seized approximately 303 gold bars, each of which weighs approximately one kilogram, the agency said in court documents. Based on the current price of gold, the estimated value exceeds $40 million, they added. The court documents do not indicate why Rush kept the gold bars and currency in his home. The BBC has contacted the CIA for comment.
David Rush, FBI, CIA, gold bars, $40 million, Virginia home, criminal theft of public money, work-related expenses, John Ratcliffe, Rolex watches, detention hearing
So… he just kept $40M in gold at home? Wild.
Work-related expenses… sure. Sounds like he just used the government as an ATM and then tried to play dumb when the CIA couldn’t find the gold. Also why were there like 35 Rolexes, that’s the part that really screams guilt to me.
Wait, I thought gold was hard to track though. If the CIA couldn’t locate it then maybe it never existed and this is just a money laundering setup? Like doesn’t theft of public money mean he stole from taxpayers but he was supposedly getting it from the government, so who’s the real scammer? Idk I’m confused, but 303 bars is a lot whether it’s real or not.
This feels like one of those cases where everyone “declines to comment” and then we’re supposed to just accept it. The FBI said it was a referral from the CIA, and then now he’s lying about education and military leave too? That’s a lot of charges. Also Rolexes just sitting at home with the gold?? Why would anyone do that, unless they thought they’d get away with it because he had clearance. I guess $40 million worth of gold bars is still cheaper than paying taxes… right?