Ex-CIA agent created fake spy program to amass $40M gold stash: reports

A former CIA official who was caught hoarding $40 million worth of gold bars allegedly created a “fake” classified intelligence program that US federal investigators say was used to channel government funds for personal gain, according to media reports.

David J. Rush, the former CIA employee, was arrested last month and charged with theft of public funds after FBI agents discovered 303 gold bars valued at roughly $40 million, along with about $2 million in cash and dozens of luxury watches, stashed in his Virginia home.

The search was conducted after the CIA became suspicious of his past military history, including his claim of being part of the Navy Reserve, and tipped the Bureau to act. Before his arrest on May 19, Rush had reportedly worked as a CIA officer for 17 years.

The Washington Post, citing US officials with knowledge of Rush’s investigations, reveals that Rush had created a fraudulent operation dubbed as the “special access program” into which he used to convince another agent to transfer the money. The New York Times also confirmed the findings.

‘Made-up contract’

According to both publications, Rush allegedly brought at least two CIA colleagues on the fraudulent operation and persuaded one of them to transfer the cash and gold into the program. To convince them, he claimed the money was to keep the government running in the event of a catastrophic event, such as destructive weather or a military attack, the reports said.

“He made up a contract,” one of the officials told The Post.

However, it was not clear how the ex-CIA officer was able to create the program and obtain the funds without involving superiors in the agency.

According to court documents released following his arrest, Rush had received “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses” between November 2025 and March 2026. When conducting an internal review, the CIA could not locate these funds, it said in the document.

In response to these charges, Rush’s attorney, Jessica Carmichael, argued that many of the government’s allegations remain unproven, and some are unrelated to the charge currently before the court. For instance, the discovery of gold bars was “basically a non-issue”, Carmichael told reporters, stating that his client never claimed ownership of the bullion. “This is about $65,000 worth of time card fraud,” she said.

Following a detention hearing last week, Rush was ordered to remain in jail until his trial, as a US District Court ruled him to be a flight risk.