According to court documents, a former senior Central Intelligence Agency official pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Virginia, admitting that he leveraged his government position and public funds to enrich himself by acquiring Florida real estate and hundreds of gold bars valued at more than US$40 million.
David J. Rush fabricated a fictitious “highly classified” government program to justify purchasing luxury property in south Florida, which he planned to resell for personal profit, according to a court filing.
Rush also independently concocted a false “sensitive government activity” to secure the gold bars, the filing states.
The Justice Department reports that Rush’s fraudulent conduct resulted in total losses to the federal government of approximately US$194 million.