$40M in gold bars, $2M cash seized in arrest of former U.S. official David Rush

article

fficials said David Rush had a $40 million stash of gold bars in his Virginia home. (Daniel Barry/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Tens of millions of dollars in gold bars, millions of dollars in cash, and dozens of luxury watches were seized after federal law enforcement searched the home of a former senior U.S. official earlier this month.

Big picture view:

Court documents identify the suspect as David Rush and noted that he has one of the highest-ranking security clearances in the U.S. government, i.e., Top Secret/Secure Compartmented Information. 

A statement released by the FBI indicated that Rush’s arrest came after CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred the case to them following his agency’s own internal investigation. 

What they're saying:

"The FBI is working closely with our partners at the CIA and the Department of Justice as we continue to investigate this matter fully," the FBI said in a statement. "We are committed to following the facts, ensuring accountability, and pursuing justice in accordance with the law."

The backstory:

An FBI special agent explained in the complaint how multiple employees reported Rush made several requests between November 2025 and March of this year in which he asked for "a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars."

The complaint states Rush claimed all that gold and all that cash were for work-related activities, but when investigators checked a storage space at his office, they only found some of the money. The government also indicated that it had no record of Rush reporting how that missing money may have been used.

303 Gold Bars and More

When FBI agents searched Rush’s home in Virginia on May 18, they quickly discovered where all those requested funds may have gone.

The agents seized 303 gold bars, approximately $2 million in cash, and 35 luxury watches, according to the criminal complaint. Each bar weighed about one kilogram (2.2 lbs.), which at current prices put the estimated total amount of gold at over $40 million, the FBI noted. 

Rush has been charged with one count of theft of public money.

Dig deeper:

The criminal complaint also details the escalating and repeated false statements allegedly given by Rush during multiple applications and security clearance updates. 

It also accuses him of time card fraud, saying he claimed to be a captain in the Navy Reserves and took hundreds of hours of military leave, despite the fact he had been discharged by the military in 2015, as a lieutenant.