A now-former officer with the Central Intelligence Agency has pleaded guilty to stealing almost $200 million, including hundreds of gold bars, as part of a fraudulent scheme masquerading as a top secret government program.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday confirmed that David J. Rush, a Virginia resident, admitted to one count of wire fraud linked to running the fabricated operation and defrauding the government while he was a CIA officer. In a statement, prosecutors said that Rush lied about his education and military experience to gain a position at the CIA, and used his access as an employee to set up the top secret and highly compartmentalized program with the intention of using it to funnel U.S. government funds into his possession.
During his arrest, law enforcement found more than $46 million worth of gold bars in Rush’s house linked to the long-running fraud scheme, along with cars, watches, and over $2 million in cash.
The plea deal means that Rush escapes trial, as much as the U.S. government likely avoids having to explain in open court how Rush evaded vetting scrutiny to join the U.S. intelligence agency, and how actions went undetected for more than a year.
Rush was until recently a senior CIA officer, who according to earlier reports worked for a division of the CIA since 2010 that develops hacking tools and techniques for carrying out espionage. Per court filings, Rush had significant authority over government intelligence programs and spending.
Over the course of 2025, Rush used his position to fabricate a so-called special access program, which are surveillance or intelligence-gathering operations so sensitive that only a few people are read into them. Special access programs, or SAPs, require special clearance that not even the most cleared individuals in government are granted access to. According to The Washington Post, Rush constructed the compartmentalized program under the guise of a fake “continuity of government” plan, aimed at keeping the government functioning in the event of a war, natural disaster, or some other destructive catastrophe. As part of the scheme, Rush used the program and fake government contract to trick an unnamed defense contractor into buying large amounts of gold that Rush then pocketed.
According to The Post, the case astounded officials as Rush’s duties at the CIA involved work with one of the government’s “most sensitive intelligence-gathering programs,” with details so sensitive that only a few senior U.S. intelligence officials and lawmakers know of its existence. The Post withheld details of that program from publication as its disclosure could “jeopardize ongoing intelligence-gathering operations.”
Court filings said that by virtue of his position, Rush “effectively acted as his own approving official, enabling him to expend substantial amounts of United States government money without meaningful scrutiny.”
Rush is scheduled to be sentenced in late January 2027 and faces up to 20 years in prison.
