Ex-CIA official charged with stealing millions of dollars in gold bars from the federal government
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A former senior CIA official with top secret-level clearance is accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million from the federal government and stashing them in his home.
David Rush was arrested and charged with criminal theft of public money last week, according to federal court filings in Virginia, where he lives.
From November to March, Rush requested and received a “significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses,” according to an affidavit from an FBI agent investigating the case.
The affidavit says its unclear what Rush intended to use the funds for, but that a portion of it was found in a storage space near his office.
Federal officials searched his home on May 18 and seized more than 300 gold bars with an estimated value of more than $40 million, according to the affidavit. They also seized roughly $2 million in U.S. currency and some 35 luxury watches, many of them Rolexes. Rush was arrested the next day, the FBI said.
The FBI affidavit concludes that there’s probable cause to believe that Rush “knowingly embezzled, stole, purloined, or knowingly converted a thing of value of the United States” for his personal use.
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Comments
i saw that earlier today, to bad you had to lose everything and give it back to them
It took 300 bars before they realized it was missing?
Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat
That's what I was thinking. What the hell did this guy do to even get close to that much money!?!
"Rush requested and received a “significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses"????
A) how does a person request that (did he just fill out a form?) and
how was that approved
C) and no one questioned why a guy would be getting them?
I can't even request a new mouse without jumping through hoops.
There is a Fort Knox joke in there somewhere.
On the ABC network news last night was stated he bilked the g'ment out of $77,000.00 in undeserved military benefits as well.
I wonder if the person had an accomplice/help mixed in?
I need to get a job with the CIA
CIA=in this case CASH IN ADVANCE.
A very cavalier and irresponsible government agency to permit this sort of value without strong chains of custody.
I bet David did not go to Sunday school. Glad he got caught.
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Prosecutors will be sure to make it abundantly clear that only the IRS and federal reserve are allowed to steal from people.
If you ever read "Charlie Wilson's War," the CIA case officer (played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the film) made some comment about how he could (and did) requisition enormous sums of money (tens of millions or more) for the operations they were running in the Middle East back in the 80s. Of course, in that case, the funds were going to fund the Mujadeen against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. And he made it sound like it was no big deal.
I read a couple different articles about this at the time.
Basically, he took advantage of a loophole in the rules - he created a special program that was supposedly meant to ensure continuing government operations in the event of a major disaster (e.g. nuclear war). It was consequently super-classified, as all such programs are. Then he 'read-in' a couple colleagues, who were by rule banned from discussing the program with anyone else (since it was so super-top-secret).
This guy was high-ranking enough that he only had to fool his supervisor. Basically, once this guy's boss signed off, he had free reign.
And yes, he took $40 million before he was caught.
Here's a source: https://www.military.com/former-cia-officer-accused-of-hiding-40-million-in-gold-through-fake-secret-program
@VikingDude Makes you think, doesn't it? Those who have to punch a clock and get paid $50,000/yr are constantly monitored in case they steal paperclips or staples. And, in some cases, are accused of theft just for holding a job in the public sector. But those in positions of high authority can apparently get away with stealing tens of millions over the course of years and nobody bats an eye...
Also, the penalty specified in 18 U.S. Code § 641 for stealing public property seems awfully light: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/641
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