CIA Official Arrested After FBI Seizes $40M in Gold

David Rush, a senior CIA official with top-secret sensitive compartmented information clearance, was arrested May 19 after FBI agents seized 303 one-kilogram gold bars valued at more than $40 million from his Fairfax County, Virginia, residence. Agents also recovered about $2 million in cash and roughly 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolexes.

Court filings say a CIA internal review flagged tens of millions of dollars in gold that Rush had requested for work-related expenses between November 2025 and March 2026. A smaller amount of gold was recovered from a storage area near his office; the larger portion was found at his home. CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred the matter to the FBI, and a joint statement from the CIA and the FBI stated the investigation was ongoing and reaffirmed their commitment to accountability and the rule of law.

Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia filed a charge of theft of public money. Rush, who held a senior executive service–level post, made an initial court appearance and remained in custody as of late May pending a detention hearing. Court documents show prosecutors asked a judge to keep him detained while his attorney argued he is not a flight risk.

Federal court filings allege Rush fabricated large portions of his résumé over nearly two decades to obtain and retain access. The filings say he falsely claimed degrees from Clemson University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, attendance at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, service as a Navy pilot and service as a thesis adviser at the Air Force Institute of Technology. University and military records cited in the filings do not support those claims.

The filings further state that after a 2015 discharge from the Navy, Rush continued to claim Reserve status and collected about $77,000 in improper military leave pay across 744 hours.

There is no public evidence in court records of espionage or involvement by foreign actors; the charges filed to date relate to theft and fraud against the U.S. government. The investigation was active as of May 27, 2026.

Federal officials note a precedent in which law enforcement officers were convicted in 2015 for diverting seized digital currency during an investigation. In both that case and the current matter, internal agency reviews identified irregularities before the FBI intervened.

The immediate next steps are a detention hearing and continued federal inquiry into how the gold was requested, approved and moved.