Ex-CIA official with gold, cash stash pleads guilty to fraud

A former senior CIA official, David J. Rush, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud. According to court records, Rush abused his position and government funds to enrich himself by acquiring Florida real estate and hundreds of gold bars worth over $40 million.

Rush fabricated a "highly classified" government programme to justify the acquisition of luxury property in south Florida that he intended to resell for personal profit, and concocted a bogus "sensitive government activity" to obtain the gold bars. The Justice Department states that Rush's fraudulent conduct cost the federal government around $194 million in total losses.

Rush, 49, of Ashburn, Virginia, faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 28 in Alexandria, Virginia. Law enforcement seized 298 gold bars and $2 million in cash in a raid on Rush's home in Virginia.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch, Punch Nigeria, South China Morning Post, Gulf News, NDTV — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.