Many people in the workplace struggle with expense reports and imposter syndrome. And then, according to the FBI, there is David J. Rush -- a former CIA official who is accused of taking gold bars and bulk cash to his Virginia home while also allegedly lying about his education and military service, according to federal court records.
Rush, a former senior executive service-level CIA employee in Virginia, was arrested on May 19, after FBI agents searching his home seized more than 300 1-kilogram gold bars valued at more than $40 million, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Matthew T. Johnson, who works in the counterintelligence division of the FBI's Washington field office.
"FBI agents also seized approximately $2 million in United States currency," the document states. "Finally, FBI agents seized approximately 35 luxury watches, many of which were Rolex brand."
Rush, who is listed as living in Ashburn, Va., is charged with a felony count of theft of public money, according to court documents. He remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after his request to be released on bond was denied.
Requests for comment from Rush's defense attorney were not immediately returned. Federal court records show that he waived a preliminary hearing and was scheduled for a detention hearing in Alexandria, Va., on Friday. But Magistrate Judge William E. Fitzpatrick agreed to a request from both sides of the case to postpone that hearing to the morning of June 5.
The CIA says it informed the FBI of its suspicions about Rush, who apparently fell under scrutiny after he began asking for gold bars last November. That's when he began making "several requests … to obtain a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses," according to the affidavit.
"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," a CIA spokesperson told NPR via email, in a statement jointly issued with the FBI.
A review of a storage space Rush used at the CIA found that only part of the cash was there. The agency's inquiry into the matter is ongoing, but it has not yet found any record of why Rush said he needed the massive amount of money.
The FBI affidavit accuses Rush of taking gold bars and currency, making false statements to the agency and on national security background forms, and filing fraudulent timecards.
Rush holds a Top Secret/Secure Compartmented Information clearance, according to the FBI affidavit. But the agency alleges that beginning with Rush's successful 2009 CIA job application, he fabricated academic and military achievements that helped him attain that status and, as a result, earn higher wages.
Rush enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1997, and was later commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy Reserves after providing a transcript showing he earned an undergraduate degree from Clemson University, the affidavit states. In three different applications to join the CIA, he claimed to have attained an undergraduate degree from Clemson, along with a master's degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or RPI, and other credentials.
But this spring, registrar offices at both Clemson and RPI told the FBI that their institutions have no record of Rush ever attending classes there.
Similarly, Rush's alleged claims that he was a military pilot and served in prominent related roles were undermined by records showing he never underwent any evaluations as a pilot and does not hold a pilot's license, according to the affidavit.
Explaining the allegation of timecard fraud, the FBI says that while military records show Rush was honorably discharged from the Navy Reserves as a lieutenant in 2015, he continued to claim military leave on his timesheets for the next 10 years, and allegedly told the CIA that he had risen to the rank of captain in the Navy Reserves.
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