Former CIA official with Top Secret clearance admits to $194 million fraud, including 298 gold bars and four luxury South Florida properties

David J. Rush of Ashburn, Virginia, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court in Alexandria, after reaching a tentative plea deal in September. Under the final agreement, he owes at least $195.4 million in restitution. The fraud caused $193.6 million in losses, according to court documents, and $1.8 million in private charter flights he billed to the government.

Rush held senior executive posts and a TS/SCI clearance at an agency the filings call “Government Agency 1.” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the CIA referred the case to the FBI after an internal investigation “identified potential crimes.”

“David Rush abused his position and betrayed the public trust and should be held fully accountable for his actions,” Ratcliffe said.

“Federal employees are entrusted with serving the American people, not themselves,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to the DOJ announcement. “The Trump Administration is committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, including by prosecuting those who foolishly defraud American taxpayers.”

$145 million billed for “consulting”

Court documents say that Rush made up two programs beginning around October 2025. The first was a fake Special Access Program that supposedly required buying luxury real estate in South Florida. His job let him identify requirements and approve resources for them, which effectively made him his own approving official, the court documents read. Rush held fake briefings to admit contractors to the made-up program, in a process known as a “read-in,” and told the contractors the work was highly classified—and had one sign an NDA. When an agency contracting official questioned the spending, Rush said the official had no “need to know.”

Between November 2025 and March 2026, Rush had a government contractor send about $145 million to 0701 Holdings LLC, a company set up at his direction that billed for “consulting.” That money was then used to buy two Palm Beach homes for $21.9 million and $27 million, a $13.65 million Palm Beach parcel and a $40 million parcel in Hobe Sound.

Rush planned to resell the properties for profit, the documents continue. He called one guesthouse “super unique and cool” but questioned whether buying it would “hamstring us when we’re selling.”

298 gold bars

For the second program, Rush told a subcontractor’s executive that a sensitive assignment for about six people allowed the use of gold, diamonds or cryptocurrency. The subcontractor bought 298 gold bars at a cost to the government of $46,361,721, including fees, and delivered them in Pelican cases to a safe in Rush’s Loudoun County office.

On May 19, FBI agents found all 298 bars at Rush’s home, their serial numbers matching the subcontractor’s records. They also found about $2.1 million in cash, €104,795 and more than 30 watches, including several Rolexes.

Rush reached his position partly by lying about his background, the documents read. He claimed to be a combat veteran and military pilot with a bachelor’s degree from a university in South Carolina and a doctorate from one in New York. However, the court documents say he graduated from neither, and never flew for the military. He left the Navy reserves in 2015, but claimed 392 hours of military leave from his civilian job starting in 2021.

In the statement of facts, Rush also admitted that in late 2025 he gave a foreign government official information about a U.S. clandestine human source.

As part of his agreement, Rush will forfeit the gold, cash, 35 watches, two 2026 BMW Alpina XB7s, $38.65 million seized from the LLC’s account, and properties in Palm Beach and on Jupiter Island.

He faces up to 20 years in prison at his Jan. 28, 2027, sentencing. The Justice Department said its investigation is continuing, and the Director of National Intelligence has asked the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community to investigate.