WASHINGTON — The FBI reported this Wednesday the arrest of a former official of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), after federal agents found in his home about 300 gold bars valued at more than 40 million dollars, in addition to millions in cash and luxury watches.
The former agent was identified as David Rush and the discovery was made during his arrest last week at his home in the state of Virginia and he was accused of fraud and embezzlement, according to local media.
The CIA indicated that Rush, who held a senior executive position in the past, was investigated internally after receiving internal complaints about possible irregularities linked to the agent.
Rush applied to work for the Government on three occasions; In his first application, he claimed to have graduated from Clemson University in 2000. In his second application, he added that he had a graduate degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Why did he keep so much gold?
According to court documents, cited by The New York Times, from November of last year until March, Rush requested and received “a significant amount of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bullion for work-related expenses.”
When the CIA conducted a review to determine where the gold and currency were hidden, the agency “was unable to locate the gold bars or significant amounts of the foreign currency,” according to court documents.
On May 18, FBI agents searched Rush’s home and found “approximately 303 gold bars, each weighing approximately one kilogram,” according to an affidavit.
Based on the price of gold, the affidavit indicated that the estimated value of the gold was more than $40 million.
Court documents do not indicate why Rush appears to have kept so much gold and $2 million in cash in his home, or what work project would have led him to accumulate that wealth.
